India News | Thousands Turn Up as Week-long Swankha Mela Begins in J-K's Samba
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The week-long annual Swankha Mela commenced on Sunday at the famous temple of Bawa Sidh Goria Nath in Swankha village of Ramgarh, a border tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district.
Jammu, Jul 2 (PTI) The week-long annual Swankha Mela commenced on Sunday at the famous temple of Bawa Sidh Goria Nath in Swankha village of Ramgarh, a border tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district.
Thousands of devotees from within and outside Jammu and Kashmir including Punjab, Himachal, Haryana and Delhi participated in the mela and took a bath in the holy 'sarovar' and offered prayers at Nath's Samadhi, an official said.
He said Samba Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Sharma along with Senior Superintendent of Police Benam Tosh and other social and political activists visited the temple to seek blessings.
"The shrine is an important part of the tourism circuit of Samba district and efforts are underway to make the Sidh Goria-Bamuchak-Baba Chamliyal shrine a tourist circuit," Sharma said.
He said the district administration made elaborate arrangements for the convenience of devotees, including medical facilities, drinking water and help desks.
Departmental stalls for various government schemes were also installed at the venue, Sharma said.
Mahant Bhola Nath appreciated the efforts of the district administration for its arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the mela.
Many stalls were put in place by local vendors, which added to the economic activities of the area and enabled local trade, the official said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)