Hundreds take holy dip in Renuka Lake on Hariprabodhini Ekadashi

Nahan (HP), Nov 12 (PTI) Hundreds of devotees took a holy dip in Renuka Lake in Sirmaur district on the occasion of Hariprabodhini Ekadashi on Tuesday. The holy dip began around 3 am and will continue till late evening.

The five-day-long Shri Renuka Ji International Fair began on Monday afternoon with the arrival of Lord Parshuram's palanquin on the bank of the lake.

Devotees believe Lord Parshuram comes to meet his mother Renuka Ji once a year, from his ancient temple in Jamu Koti village, 3 km away from the lake. The fair is celebrated with traditional fervour.

Throughout the day, a large number of devotees from different states of north India arrived at the lake to take a holy 'snan' and offer prayers to Bhagwati Renuka Ji and Lord Parshuram.

A huge rush was seen at the 'Snan Ghat' of the lake since morning, said an NGO worker Om Prakash Thakur, who was guiding devotees at the spot.

Narottam Das, a devotee from Kaithal (Haryana), Rajpal Goyal from Delhi and Balbeer Singh Chauhan from Chakrata (Uttarakhand) said they came for the fair with their families as Lor Parshuram was their 'kul devta' (family deity).

Speaking to PTI, they said after reaching on Monday, they spent the whole night under the sky in the 'Mela ground' chanting bhajans. Their families have been coming for the fair every year for generations, they said.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu walked around Renuka Lake Tuesday morning and directed the administration to improve the basic amenities in the area for the tourists and locals.

Elaborate security arrangements were witnessed at the 'Snan Ghat' to control the crowd, officials said. PTI COR BPL SKY SKY SKY