Kanwar Yatra

Har ki Pauri, thronged by Kanwarias, during the Kavad Mela, Haridwar.

The Kānvar (or Kānwar/ Kavad) Yātrā (Devanagari: कांवड़ यात्रा) is an annual pilgrimage of devotees of Siva, known as Kānvarias(कावड़िया) or "Bhole" (भोले), to Hindu pilgrimage places of Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to fetch holy waters of Ganges River. Millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in their local Śiva shrines, or specific temples such as Pura Mahadeva and Augharnath temple in Meerut, and Kashi Vishwanath, Baidyanath, and Deoghar in Jharkhand.

At its base, Kanwar refers to a genre of religious performances where participants ritually carry water from a holy source in containers suspended on either side of a pole. The pilgrimage derives its name from the contraption, called kanwar, and while the source of the water is often the Ganga, it can also be its local equivalents. The offering is dedicated to Siva, often addressed as Bhola (Simple One) or Bhole Baba (Simple Grandfather/Father). The pilgrim, accordingly, is a bhola, and in the vocative, bhole! Although there is little mention of the Kanwar as an organized festival in canonical texts, the phenomenon surely existed in the early nineteenth century when English travelers report seeing Kanwar pilgrims at many points during their journeys in the north Indian plains.

The Yatra used to be a small affair undertaken by a few saints and older devotees until the late 1980s, when it started gaining popularity. Today, the Kanwar pilgrimage to Haridwar in particular has grown to be India's largest annual religious gathering, with an estimated 12 million participants in the 2010 and 2011 events. The devotees come from the surrounding states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar and some from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Heavy security measures are undertaken by the government and the traffic on Delhi-Haridwar national highway (National Highway 58) is diverted for the period.

Etymology

Kanwar Yatra is named after the kānvar (कांवड़), a single pole (usually made of bamboo) with two roughly equal loads fastened or dangling from opposite ends. The kānvar is carried by balancing the middle of the pole on one or both shoulders. The Hindi word kānvar is derived from the Sanskrit kānvānrathi (काँवाँरथी). Kānvar-carrying pilgrims, called Kānvariās, carry covered water-pots in kānvars slung across their shoulders. This practice of carrying Kavad as a part of religious pilgrimage, especially by devotees of Lord Shiva, is widely followed throughout India (see Kavadi). Yatra means a journey or procession.

History

Bhole carrying kawar

Kanwar yatra is related to the churning of the ocean of milk in the Hindu Puranas. When the poison came out before Amrita and the world started burning from its heat then lord Shiva accepted to inhale poison. But, after inhaling it he started suffering from negative energy of poison. In Treta Yuga Shiva's devout follower Ravana did meditation. He brought holy water of Ganga by using kanwar and poured it on Shiva's temple in Puramahadev. Thus releasing Shiva from the negative energy of the poison.

Bol Bam

Bol Bam

Bol-Bam refers to pilgrimages and festivals in India and Nepal glorifying Shiva (aka Bam or Bum).

The festivals run during the monsoon month Shraawan (July–August). After taking water from the Ganges river (or other nearby river that wind up in the Ganges) the pilgrims, known as kanwariya or Shiv Bhaktas (disciples of Shiva), are mandated to travel barefooted and in saffron robes with their Kanwar (walking sticks used to hang the urns of water) for 105 km by various routes and usually in groups made of family, friends and or neighbors, and return to their own local or other more prestigious and larger Shiva Temples to pour Gangajal on Lord Shiva (Shiv Linga). On the march pilgrims continuously sprinkle any and all talk with "Bol Bam" (speak the name of Bam) and sing Bhajans (hymns) to praise his name.

To help kanwariyas so many NGOs are there and they offer free sewa (service) like medical help, water, tea, breakfast, lunch etc. in the journey route. Most of the NGOs work only in the Month of Shavan but Bol Bum Sewa Samitti, Dalsingsarai, which is a 38 years old NGO having its huge Dharamshala (Approx. 3,600 Sq. Feet) at Tonapathar, Abrakha, Dist. Banka in the holy route of Sultanganj to deoghar works round the year round the clock. Bol Bum Sewa Samitti having approx. 10,000 members from different parts of India contribute generously and offer free sewa without any help from Govt. The Donations made to this Samitti is exempted from the Income Tax Department. Samitti have a Facebook account. Beside the Free Sewa to Kanwariyas Samitti also provide free education, Medical facilities to needy people.

The Yatra

Augarnath Temple one of the principal shrines of Shiva offering

The month of Shravan is dedicated to Lord Shiva and most devotees observe a fast on Mondays during the month, as it also falls during the chaturmas period, traditionally set aside for religious pilgrimages, bathing in holy rivers and penance. During the annual Monsoon season thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims carrying water from the Ganges in Haridwar, Gangotri or Gaumukh, the glacier from where the Ganges originates and other holy places on the Ganges, like Sultanganj, the only place where the river turns north during its course, and return to their hometowns, where they later perform abhisheka (anointing) the Shivalingas at the local Shiva temples, as a gesture of thanksgiving.

Kanwarias in Haridwar, 2007

While most pilgrims are men, a few women also participate in Yatra. Most travel the distance on foot, a few also travel on bicycles, motor cycles, scooters, mini trucks or jeeps. Numerous Hindu organizations and other voluntary organizations like local Kanwar Sanghs, the Rashtryia Swayam Sewak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. setup camps along the National Highways during the Yatra, where food, shelter, medical-aid and stand to hang the Kanvads, holding the Ganges water is provided.

Smaller pilgrimages are also undertaken to places like Allahabad and Varanasi. Shravani Mela is a major festival at Deoghar in Jharkhand, where thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims bringing holy water, from the Ganges at Sultanganj, covering a distance of 105 kilometres on foot. Here till about 1960, the yatra was confined to a few saints, old devotees, and rich Marwaris of neighbouring cities, and the phenomenon has seen considerable rise in the recent years.

Once the pilgrims reach their hometown, the Ganges water is used to bathe the Shivalingam on the Amavasya (New Moon) day in Shravan month or on the Maha Shivratri day.

Social Significance

In Uprising of the Fools: Pilgrimage as Moral Protest in Contemporary India, Faisal Qureshi (2017) highlights how the Kanwar procession offers a social space for participants to prove their talents, resolve, and moral worth. These devotees—called bhola, gullible or naive, and seen as miscreants by many Indians—are mostly young, destitute men, who have been left behind in the globalizing economy. But for these young men, the ordeal of the pilgrimage is no vague pursuit, but a means to master their anxieties and attest their good faith in unfavorable social conditions. The pilgrimage provides a place in which participants can simultaneously recreate and prepare for the poor, informal economy and inevitable social uncertainties.

Further reading

• Choudhary, Paras Kumar (2004). Sociology of pilgrims. Kalpaz Publications. ISBN 81-7835-243-5.