1 lakh pilgrims throng temple during ‘Panch Bisham’ festival

Our Correspondent

Kangra, November 25

Over 1 lakh pilgrims from across the country besides a large number of foreigners visited the Jayanti Mata temple here and offered prayers during the annual ‘Panch Bisham’ festival, which concluded amid religious fervour and enthusiasm here today.

The five-day festival starts on Kartik ekadashi and culminates on Kartik poornima, coinciding with Gurpurab.

A long queue of devotees was observed from the base of the hillock to the shrine.

Ajay Verma, a member of the temple management, said pilgrims started to pour in from 3.30 am and a 2-km queue was observed outside the shrine as the day progressed.

The festival — Panch Bisham — is associated with the Mahabharata and is celebrated to commemorate the great warrior Bhishmapitamaha.

As per the Mahabharata, Bhishma is believed to have lie on the bed of arrows during these five days.

The festival is also celebrated as the marriage of Tulsi and Saligram.

Situated on a hillock between the Old Kangra and Nandrul villages and overlooking the lush green Kangra valley, Jayanti Mata temple remains a major attraction for devotees during the five-day long festival.

Devotees from Nepal and West Bengal, besides a large number of Gorkhas, who worship Jayanti Mata as Kul Devi, paid obeisance at the shrine on the last day of the festival today.

Verma, meanwhile, said despite claims made by the authorities about making all the arrangements for the festival there was no water supply for the first two days of the annual event.

Water tankers were pressed in to service after a lot of hue and cry was made by the pilgrims, he said.

Verma also said the authorities even failed to ensure proper lighting facility along the track. He said the arrangements were made by the local devotees of their own.