Manali: The picturesque Lahaul Valley of the state decided to hold a similar event like Leh’s Sindhu Darshan festival,every summer.
Chandra-Bhaga Sangam Parv Samiti President Chander Mohan Parsheera said.”We are holding Chandra-Bhaga Sangam Parv at Tandi on June 12 which will see a congregation of Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders and followers. He disclosed that of State for Tourism Mahesh Sharma and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar are expected to participate. Parsheera while speaking with hill post said that the festival, which aims to promote unity and communal harmony in the country. He said that June to September is the best time to visit the Lahaul Valley which is dominated by Buddhists.
“Seeing the success of the festival last year, we have decided to hold this festival every year on the pattern of the Sindhu Darshan festival held in Leh,” Parsheera said.
Paraheera disclosed that the festival would also boost the local tourism industry.
“Last year, more than 8,000 people, including tourists,” he added. people, mostly locals, participated in the festival. This year we expect more than 10,000.
The festival which will be held at Tandi village of Lahaul-Spiti district, 120 km from here, where both the Chandra and Bhaga rivers meet and give birth to the Chandrabhaga, later becomes as the Chenab river.
Paraheera futher said that the main attraction of the festival which includes a concert by 100 violinists and a folk dance by over 1,000 lahauli women, besides traditional ceremonies encompassing Buddhist prayers by senior Lamas.
Parsheera said priests from Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Temple and Buddhist spiritual leaders from Bhutan have been invited to take part in the event. “They will start religious ceremonies on June 2 and will concluded on June 12,” he said.
According to the sources there is belief that Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas, breathed her last near the Chandrabhaga’s confluence and her mortal remains were immersed in the river.
Sanjay Dutta, an engineer by qualification but is a journalist by choice.
He has worked for the premier new agency Press Trust of India and leading English daily Indian Express.
With more than a decade of experience, he has been highlighting issues related to environment, tourism and other aspects affecting mountain ecology.
Sanjay Dutta lives in a village close to Manali in Kullu valley of Himachal.
