Nahan (HP), Nov 21 (PTI) Thousands of devotees will gather at Renuka Lake in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur for the six-day International Shri Renuka Ji Fair beginning Wednesday to mark what they believe to be the arrival of Lord Parshuram at her mother’s abode.
Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania will inaugurate the fair and lead the ‘Shoba Yatra’ while Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla will preside over the closing ceremony on November 27, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Sumit Khimta said on Tuesday.
The speaker will receive the palanquin of Lord Parshuram on Wednesday afternoon on the bank of Giri River in Dadahu, and lead Lord Parshuram’s ‘Shobha Yatra’ after attending the ‘Deva Abhinandan’ ceremony of the palanquins.
He will also inaugurate cultural programmes of the fair, and preside over all religious ceremonies. The fair would conclude with the departure ceremony of palanquins of Lord Parshuram and other ‘devtas’, after the ‘Purnima Snan’ in Renuka Lake.
Taking a dip in the lake on Hariprabodhini Ekadashi (on November 23 this year) and Kartik Purnima (November 27) is believed to be auspicious by devotees.
The fair starts with the arrival of a palanquin of Lord Parshuram on the bank of Renuka Ji Lake. The palanquin is brought from Lord Parshuram’s ancient temple in Jamu Koti village to Renuka Ji Lake in a religious procession called ‘Shobha Yatra’.
“He stays at the home of his mother Renuka Ji till full moon,” said Kundan Singh Shastri, who is a historian, as well as the general secretary of Kendriya Hatti Samiti, Sirmaur.
Seers in large numbers from all parts of the country have already arrived at Renuka Ji Lake, the biggest natural lake in Himachal Pradesh.
According to Aacharya Jagdish Chandra Tripathi, a Puran Kathakar (Purana storyteller), references of religious congregations at Renuka Ji and the importance of ‘Renuka Tirtha’ has been prominently mentioned in four Puranas.
‘Renuka Tirth’ is considered to be the birthplace of Lord Parshuram, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. As per Brahmand Purana, Maharish Yamdagni and his wife Bhagwati Renuka Ji had meditated for long at a hillock known as ‘Tape Ka Tiba’, near Renuka Ji Lake due to which, Lord Vishnu took birth as their son.
Devotees believe that King Sahastrabahu killed Lord Parshurama’s father Maharish Yamdagni, following which Renuka Ji jumped in the ‘Ram Sarovar’ and took ‘Jal Samadhi’. ‘Ram Sarovar’ then took the shape of a lady, and has since been called ‘Renuka Ji’.
Lord Parshuram killed Sahastrabahu, giving new life to his father. He then prayed to his mother to reveal herself at the banks of the lake, said Om Prakash, a social worker.
Responding to his prayers, Renuka ji said that she will permanently live in the lake and promised to come out of the lake every year, he said.
The fair symbolises Renuka Ji’s divine promise, he added.
Renuka Ji Lake is around 40 km from Nahan, the district headquarter of Sirmour district. Besides Himachal Pradesh, it attracts pilgrims from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Rajasthan.
The administration has made all the necessary arrangements for holding the fair peacefully, officials said. Elaborate security arrangements have also been made for the fair, they said. PTI COR BPL SKY SKY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.