Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, Aug 27: Holy mace of Budha Amarnath ji along with holy procession of over 35,000 devotees reached Mandi town after covering nearly 22 kms distance on foot this evening.
1008 Swami Vishavatma Anand Saraswati ji Maharaj was leading the Charri Yatra right from Poonch town up to Mandi, the shrine of Budha Amarnathji. The religious procession reached Mandi town at around 4.30 pm amidst tight security arrangements. The district and Tehsil administration had made elaborate arrangements for the comfortable stay of the yatris.
Earlier, in the morning, Dy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, Member Parliament Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency Jugal Kishore, in presence Minister for Transport Abdul Ghani Kohli flagged off the holy mace from Akhara temple at Poonch. After performing special Pooja of holy mace of Lord Shiva amidst chanting of Vedic Mantras at Akhara Temple by Swami Vishavatma Amand ji, Dy CM Dr Nirmal Singh, BJP MP, Officiating Commander of Poonch brigade and others for over an hour, the holy yatra started for Mandi town at around 9 am.
Deputy Commissioner Poonch, N A Wani, SSP J S Johar, national president Bajrang Dal and other leaders from the State, local MLA Shah Mohd Tantray, MLC Yashpal Sharma, MLA Nowshera Ravinder Raina, SD Sabha members and president Satish Sasan, senior BJP leader Pardeep Sharma and prominent people of the city were present on the occasion. Some of them also addressed the gathering. Swami ji while complementing the people of the area for maintaining communal harmony and secular charterer said that this is strength of the country and all the community members always render their support to make this annual yatra grand success. He urged the DyCM to ensure repair of Poonch- Mandi road as many pilgrims go on foot and due to rough surface and pebbles/ Bajra on the road they face lot of hardships. He said that this time he has been forced to raise this complain with the Government as road condition is worst as PWD has not done any necessary repair work before yatra.
DyCM appreciated the people of Poonch for their support and expressed hope that they will further help in upholding centuries old tradition of brotherhood and goodwill among all the communities. He announced Rs 75 lakh for circular road in Poonch town and Rs 15 lakh for upgrading facilities for the yatris. He also considered demand of a Yatri Niwas at Poonch city. A G Kohli also spoke on the occasion.
According to Yatra officer on 7th day of the yatra, over 1200 pilgrims performed darshan at the holy cave of Budha Amarnath ji today. He said till date 14,000 yatris have performed darshan and 4823 were from outside the State. Another batch of 432 yatris also reached Poonch this evening and it will join Charri tomorrow morning. On the day of Rakshabandan, (Aug 29), Charri will return to Poonch Akhara temple after performing darshan.
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