Kanwar Yatras

  • IASbaba
  • July 15, 2021
  • 0
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.

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