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| Kanwariyas at the temple. Picture by Gautam Dey |
Deoghar, July 20: Ramanuj Singh and Bibha Devi of Patna had tried every possible way to get their daughter, Anita, married. When all effort failed they came to Baidyanath Dham seeking the blessing of Shiva and performed gathbandhan, a ritual.
“Within a year our daughter got married to a well-educated boy. We performed the ritual and now she is happy. What more can we ask for?” said her parents.
Gathbandhan is an integral part of the Shravan puja. Devotees who perform the ritual have to tie a thread to domes of Baidhyanath and Ma Parvati temples. Pandas first chant slokas and then Bhandaris (a tribal community living in Bandhya Baidynathpur) climb the domes of the temples and tie the threads.
According to him, since both the temples are in Deoghar, this place is considered to be the merging point of Shiv and Sakti (of Sati).
“There is an old belief that if any devotee perform the Gathbandhan ritual, both Shiv and Parvati are pleased and grant him or her the wishes,” Parihast said.
Secretary of All India Panda Dharma Rakshni Maha Sabha, a body of priests, Durlav Mishra said: “Deoghar is a holy place as during Dakhayagna when Sati (Parvati) immolated herself unable to take in the insult of her husband (Shiva) by her father. Stricken with grief Shiva danced with the body of Parvati. To stop him Vishnu cut the corpse into pieces with his sudarshan chakra and the various parts fell at different part of the country. The heart of Parvati fell in Deoghar and hence it is known as Chitrabhoomi. So by performing gathbandhan here, devotees can appease the deities.”
Like Anita, Nidhi and her family has come down from New Delhi this time to perform gathbandhan. They walked through Kanwariya Path carrying Ganga jal and also performed the ritual.
“I know of many people who had earned the blessing of Baidhyanath after they performed ritual. I will be appearing for civil service examination and I have come here to seek his blessing,” she said. Nidhi added she would again come back after she clear the examination.
