Pak Hindus in India to immerse ashes of 400, visit Mahakumbh
The head sevak of Panchmukhi Hanuman temple and crematorium of Karachi Ramnath Mishra has come to India with the ashes to perform ‘tarpan’
A group of Hindus from Pakistan has arrived in India, bringing 400 urns containing ashes of deceased Hindus, to immerse them in the sacred waters of the Ganga at Haridwar.
The head sevak of Panchmukhi Hanuman temple and crematorium of Karachi Ramnath Mishra has come to India with the ashes to perform ‘tarpan’ (ritualistic homage performed for the souls of departed ancestors.)
Ramnath, who is staying in Sector 24 of Mahakumbh Nagar with his mother, Kamala Devi, wife, son Devendranath Mishra, two daughters and a nephew, performed the sacred thread ceremony of his nine-year-old son on February 10. “After that I went to Sangam, offered prayers and took a dip with the whole family. Now we will head to Haridwar via Delhi to immerse the ashes at Sati Ghat on February 22,” he said.
Mishra said that he will go to Delhi with the holy water of Sangam where a worship of the urns of ashes will be done at Nigam Bodh Ghat with this sacred water on February 21. After sprinkling the water of Sangam on the ashes, a Rath Yatra will be taken out from Delhi to Haridwar and the ashes will be immersed in a stream of 100 liters of milk at Sati Ghat in Haridwar on February 22, he said.
He said that the crematorium in Karachi was also renovated where now 15 bodies can be cremated together, he said. A structure to store ashes has also been built at the crematorium where the ashes of 400 Hindus were collected in the past seven to eight years. Now, when he got the visa to come to India, he has come with all the ashes to perform Tarpan.
Ramnath Mishra claimed that his ancestors have been serving the Panchmukhi Hanuman temple for centuries now. He said that his ancestors were from Chakia village of Prayagraj but due to staying away for so many years, there is no contact left with anyone here now. He considers himself lucky to have got an opportunity to take a dip in the Ganga during the Mahakumbh .
Mishra, who claimed to be the only Mishra family of Karachi, belongs to the Nath sect and is a big fan of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. He said that he had got a visa only for Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Then he conveyed a message to CM Yogi Adityanath and the chief minister got him a visa for a total of four cities of UP including Prayagraj, Varanasi, Mathura and Ayodhya.
“This is just the third such visit by a Hindu group bringing ashes for immersion in India since 1947,” said Ramnath Mishra.