Kanwarias throng Haridwar for annual monsoon festival

Haridwar, Aug 7 (ANI): Thousands of pilgrims from across India have converged at the banks of River Ganges in Haridwar, Uttarakhand as part of an annual pilgrimage.

The pilgrims collect water from the holy river and take it back to their native places to offer it to Lord Shiva.Kanwarias" collect water in pails and carry it on their shoulders as they are forbidden from putting it on the ground.

The pilgrims keep the pails down only on special platforms when they take rest or have their food.

The festival falls in the auspicious "Shravan" of the Hindu calendar.

The devout take bath in the Ganges before filling the pots.

"From past two years we are getting 'Dak Kanwar' we will go back and pour holy water on Lord Shiva. Bhole, fulfills our wishes. We have devotion towards the lord. Ours is a 12 person group and we have come from Jalandhar," said Rohit Mittal, a devotee.

Policemen including dog squad have been deployed all along the pilgrimage route and traffic on the main highway has been diverted.

"We have made all security arrangements and our security arrangement includes dog squad, horse mounting police...besides this we have our paramilitary forces, PAC, NSS, NCC cadets. On the whole the force has come from other districts also. We have made all security arrangement for this Kanwar Yatra," said K L Shah, Superintendent of police. By Ashish Goel (ANI)