'Panchtirtha' begins with holy dip, devotees throng ghat of Pushkar Lake

The five-day Panchtirth bath started in Rajasthan's Pushkar.

The five-day Panchtirth bath started in the holy city of Pushkar in Rajasthan. On the day of Devuthani Ekadashi, devotees took a dip in the lake and offered prayers. However, due to the impact of the coronavirus infection and the appeal of the administration, fewer devotees have reached Pushkar in 2020 than 2019.

It is believed that the results of bathing in Kartik Panchthirtha is like bathing in Ganga a thousand times, like bathing a hundred times in Magh bath, and the result which is obtained by taking bath in Prayag in Kumbh, one gets the same fruit on taking a bath on the banks of a holy river in the month of Kartik.

Those who follow the rules of the holy month of Kartik get salvation from all sins throughout the year.

Due to these beliefs, on the day of Prabodhani Ekadashi of Kartik month, pilgrims got religious benefits by taking a dip in Pushkar lake following coronavirus guidelines.

For the 'Mahasnan', female devotees started coming from the morning on the ghat of the lake. They performed puja and prayed on the ghats of the lake. The bathing process continued throughout the day.

This will be the first time in the religious history of Pushkar that the day a very small number of devotees arrived in Pushkar. According to the Tirtha Purohitas, every year in the month of Kartik, for five days from Kartik Ekadashi to the full moon, thirty-three crore Goddesses - Goddess reside in the holy lake.

Keeping these beliefs in mind, not only during these five days of Kartik month but throughout the month of Kartik, millions of devotees from the country and the world used to come to Pushkar to take a dip of faith in the holy lake.

Significantly, due to the increasing rise of the coronavirus pandemic and the appeal of the administration, very few pilgrims have arrived in Pushkar this year.