Shrawani Mela 2019

Shrawani mela

The importance of Babadham increases during the month of Shrawan. During this period, lakhs of devotees throng the Baba Baidyanath temple. Most of them first visit Sultanganj, which is 105 km from Babadham.

In Sultanganj, the Ganges flows to the North. It is from this place that the devotees collect water in their kanwars and carry the holy Ganges water, with the kanwars on their shoulders. They walk 109 km up to Baba Baidyanath temple at Babadham reciting Bol Bam on the way.

On reaching Babadham, the kanwarias first take a dip in the Shivaganga to purify themselves, and then enter the Baba Baidyanath temple, where the Ganges water is offered to the Jyotirlingam. Shivalinga in Devghar has its special significance because it is called Manokamna Linga in the scriptures. It is considered one of the 12 ultra-rich Jyotirlingas in the country. It is also known as Vaidyanatha Dham.

This pilgrimage continues during the whole of Shravan for 30 days, during July–August. This is the longest religious fair in the world.

The sight on the way from Sultanganj to Babadham is of a 109 km long human chain of saffron clad pilgrims. It is estimated that within this period of one month around 5.0 to 5.5 million pilgrims visit Babadham. In this sense it is not less than any Mahakumbh.