Srinagar: The saffron-robed holy mace of Lord Shiva, known as 'Chhari Mubarak' arrived at the Amarnath cave shrine for special prayers marking the ritual culmination of the annual pilgrimage.
The 'Chhari' was taken out on a religious procession, with religious chants by devotees and mahants, from Sheshnag to Panchtarani. It was carried by Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of the holy mace.
The holy mace which reached the cave shrine, the abode of Lord Shiva for special prayers on Thursday, marking the culmination of the annual Amarnath Yatra.
Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of Chhari Mubarak or Silver mace, led the final puja at the cave shrine of Amarnath on Thursday.
The 62-day-long Amarnath Yatra commenced on July 1 and till August 22 more than 4.70 lakh people paid obeisance at the holy cave. This year a good number of foreign devotees also made it to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath.
Mahant Deependra Giri, accompanied by a group of monks and officials, led the Chhari Mubarak and reached the holy cave shrine of lord Shiva for the final pooja, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan, marking the formal end of this year's Amarnath Yatra.
“Chhari Mubarak reached Panjtarni yesterday for the night halt and left for the cave shrine early today for the final rituals with the commencement of Purnima appearing with the rise of sun on Thursday”, Giri said in a communique.
He said the pooja started at the Cave shrine on Thursday morning and lasted for two hours on the occasion of Shravan Purnima.
The pooja was started with Vedic hymns as per the age old traditions to bring the holy mace, one of Lord Shiva and another of Goddess Parvati, to the holy shrine of Swami Amarnath situated at 13,500 feet above sea level in Kashmir Himalayas.
Thousands of security personnel from Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other agencies were deployed all along the route of pilgrimage from Jammu to the cave shrine with choppers and drones monitoring the movement of the cavalcade of pilgrims. (with Agency inputs)
