Two-Day Ancient Bawa Bhair Mela Concludes with Religious Fervor in Nagrota, Jammu
JAMMU JULY 09: The bi-annual, two-day ancient Bawa Bhair Mela concluded at its devasthaan in the Nagrota block with immense enthusiasm and religious fervor. Organized by the Bawa Bhairdev Sathan Trust in collaboration with various religious organizations, the event commenced with an inauguration by former Deputy Commissioner B.S. Jamwal. The opening ceremony was attended by National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) President Subash Shastri, Dogra Brahman Pratinidhi Sabha (DBPS) Chairman and former Additional Advocate General P.C. Sharma, Trust President Balwant Singh, Bawa Bhairdev Sathan Trust (BBDST) General Secretary Ramesh Sharma, former Sarpanch Kirpal Singh, alongside Om Prakash Sharma, Subash Sharma, Girdhari Lal, Advocate Chander Mohan Sharma, Ritiz Khajuria, Gurdas Sharma, and several representatives of regional social and religious organizations. During the festivities, pilgrims joined the shrine’s chela (disciple), Joginder Singh, in performing Puja Archana amid the chanting of Vedic mantras.
A massive influx of devotees from different parts of the country gathered at the Mela to seek the blessings of Bawa Bhairdevta, while the shrine’s chelas performed the traditional ceremonial yatar. However, the grand celebration was shadowed by logistical grievances, as several pilgrims expressed deep concern over the lack of clean drinking water and the pathetic condition of both roads leading to the 5,000-year-old shrine. In response, the trust and visiting devotees appealed directly to the Prime Minister, Housing and Urban Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jammu & Kashmir Union Territory (JKUT) Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, and local MLAs. They urged immediate high-level intervention to direct authorities to approve and sanction a road construction proposal from Anthem village to the shrine under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) without further delay.
Devotees alleged that despite the prior preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Anthem village-to-shrine road, the project was deliberately sabotaged by vested interests. R.S. Chema, along with other devotees traveling from Punjab, criticized the JKUT administration for its half-hearted approach toward upgrading essential facilities for pilgrims. Adding to the infrastructure concerns, B.S. Jamwal, who also serves as the Chairman of the Trust Construction Committee, joined other committee members in urging the JKUT Lieutenant Governor and Chief Minister to immediately restore the steel footbridge over the Tawi River at Katal Batal, Nagrota. The bridge was washed away in last year’s floods, leaving the shrine disconnected. Expressing deep concern over the extensive loss of nearby infrastructure, the committee warned that without urgent government intervention, devotees would face severe difficulties during the upcoming three-day Kartik Purnima Mela.