Editing Dharmic Circuits: Sacred Pathways – Part 2 (section)

==== The Mani Mahesh Yatra ====
The other festival coincides with the Mani Mahesh Yatra which is undertaken every year around August/September or in the month of Bhadon. A great festival is celebrated at the Chandrashekhar village in Saho village before the Yatra, or as it is called Jatra in Himachal. People congregate with bhajans and discourses and meditation sessions that are held at the temple for about a week.

Then the Jatra proceeds towards Mani Mahesh. Thousands of devotees proceed on foot and some on vehicles from the temple. As they move along towards Bharmaur, the last great town before the Mani Mahesh lake, the Jatra keeps swelling with more and more devotees. Thousands of devotees join them in Chamba where various other temples also simultaneously initiate this jatra and as the procession proceeds towards Mani Mahesh Lake, more and more temples and jatras join this procession. After Hadsar a few kilometers from Bharmaur, all motorable roads end and the pilgrims have to necessarily proceed on foot, for thirteen more kilometers.

The teerthas provide goals to the devotees. The legends provide meaning. The story that can be verbally told in a few minutes is being told by these Hindu pilgrims every year in a span of many days and weeks, as they trudge along the mountain highway from every corner of the region to the Mani Mahesh Lake. After reaching here, the story ends in a meaningful conclusion, only to start again the next year, continuing the divine dance of teerthas and the jatras.