Srinagar: `Chhari Mubarak`, the holy mace of lord Shiva, was on Saturday taken to historic Shankaracharya temple on a hillock here as part of the annual rituals in connection with the ongoing yatra to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas.
Carried by its custodian Mahant Deependra Giri, the saffron-robed mace was taken by a group of sadhus to the temple from its abode at Dashnami Akhara in Budshah Chowk area of the city on the occasion of `Shravan-Amavasya` as per age-old traditions.
The sound of conch shell reverberated and charged the whole atmosphere during the one-hour prayers in which a sizable number of pilgrims also participated, a spokesman of True Trust, founded by Giri in 2004, said.
The spokesman said the `Chhari` will be taken to Sharika-Bhawani Temple at Hari Parbat in downtown Srinagar tomorrow to pay obeisance to the goddess and will join the Amarnath Yatra in the second week of the next month.
On July 12, `Chhari Mubarak` was taken to Pahalgam, the traditional base camp enroute to the cave shrine and offered prayers, marking the commencement of the ritual phase of the pilgrimage.
After performing `Chhari-Pujan` at Dashnami Akhara here on `Nag Panchami` on August 1, Giri will carry the mace to the Amarnath shrine on Shravan-Purnima on August 10, marking the conclusion of the 44-day Amarnath Yatra.
The yatra commenced on June 28 and so far over 3.40 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the cave shrine, which houses the naturally formed ice `shivlingam`.
