kanwar yatra
Bol-Bam is a festival and pilgrimage that takes place during Shravan Maas, which is usually from July to August, in India and Nepal. It honors Shiva, also known as Bam or Bum. In 2024, Bol-Bam begins on 22 July and ends on 19 August with Shravan Purnima.
The festivals run during the monsoon month of Shravana in Hindu Calendar. After taking water from the Ganges river (or other nearby river that wind up in the Ganges) the pilgrims, known as kanwariya or Shiv Bhaktas (disciples of Shiva), are mandated to travel barefooted and in saffron robes with their Kanwar (walking sticks used to hang the urns of water) for more than hundren km by various routes and usually in groups made of family, friends and or neighbors, and return to their own local or other more prestigious and larger Shiva Temples to pour Gangajal on Lord Shiva (Shiv Linga).
On the march pilgrims continuously sprinkle any and all talk with “Bol Bam” (speak the name of Bam) and sing Bhajans (hymns) to praise his name.
The month of Shraavana is dedicated to Lord Shiva and most devotees observe a fast on Mondays during the month, as it also falls during the chaturmas period, traditionally set aside for religious pilgrimages, bathing in holy rivers and penance. During the annual Monsoon season thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims carrying water from the Ganges in Haridwar, Gangotri or Gaumukh, the glacier from where the Ganges originates and other holy places on the Ganges, like Sultanganj, the only place where the river turns north during its course, and return to their hometowns, where they later perform abhisheka to the Shivalingas at the local Shiva temples, as a gesture of thanksgiving.
Smaller pilgrimages are also undertaken to places like Prayagraj and Varanasi. Shravani Mela is a major festival at Deoghar in Jharkhand, where thousands of saffron-clad pilgrims bringing holy water, from the Ganges at Sultanganj, covering a distance of 105 kilometres on foot and offer it to lord Baidyanath (Shiva).
Once the pilgrims reach their hometown, the Ganges water is used to bathe the Shivalingam on the thirteenth day (Triyodashi) in Shravan month or on the Maha Shivratri day.
Apart from Shravan Somvar, here is the list of other auspicious and important days in Kanwar Yatra..
Important days in Kanwar Yatra 2024
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 – Kamika Ekadashi
Thursday, 1 August 2024 – Guru Pradosh Vrat
Friday, 2 August 2024 – Sawan Shivratri
Sunday, 4 August 2024 – Sawan Amavasya
Wednesday, 7 August 2024 – Hariyali Teej
Friday, 9 August 2024 – Nag Panchami
Friday, 16 August 2024 – Shravana Putrada Ekadashi
Friday, 16 August 2024 – Simha Sankranti
Saturday, 17 August 2024 – Shani Pradosh
Monday, 19 August 2024 – Sawan Purnima