UPSC Articles
Kanwar Yatras
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-I- Culture
- The Kanwar Yatra is a pilgrimage organised in the Hindu calendar month of Shravana (Saavan).
- Saffron-clad Shiva devotees generally walk barefoot with pitchers of holy water from the Ganga or other holy rivers.
- In the Gangetic plains, the water is taken from pilgrimage sites such as Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand, Sultanganj in Bihar, and Prayagraj, Ayodhya or Varanasi from Uttar Pradesh.
- Devotees carry the pitchers of holy water on their shoulders, balanced on decorated slings known as Kanwars.
- The water is used by the pilgrims to worship Shiva lingas at shrines of importance.
- An important festival with similarities to the Kanwar yatra in North India, called the Kavadi festival, is celebrated in Tamil Nadu, in which Lord Muruga is worshipped.
