Thousands take holy dip to pay obesaince to departed souls

Kurukshetra, Sep 22 (UNI) Thousands of pilgrims took holy dip in waters of Brahamasarovar and Sannihit Sarovar here and Saraswati Teertha of Pehowa about 25 km from this pilgrim town to mark the auspicious Shraddh Amawasya today.

After the bath, pilgrims offered water to the Sun and the departed souls, followed by various rituals for the eternal peace of their ancestors and other relatives.

Pilgrims from states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab apart from a large populace from various parts of Haryana, thronged the holy places in the area.

It was a lucrative day for the priests, who performed the rites on the banks of the Sarovars for the faithful. The beggars, who had come here from far away places, too, had their coffers filled and bags full of food stuff like rice, flour, roasted rice and Gur.

Today was an exceptionally important day on the Hindu calendar, as a solar eclipse fell after almost five centuries on this occasion as well as the equinox fell today, said Pundit Prem Sharma, a Mehant of Dakshinmukhi Hanuman Mandir near the Brahamsarovar.

However, since the eclipse was not visible in India, it did not have much impact on the Shraddh rituals performed in memory of their ancestors, he added.

Strict security arrangements had been made to avoid any untoward incident during the massive bathing ceremony.

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