Day 2: 9000 visit Nagni temple on Baisakhi eve

After a record 15,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at Subar Nag temple on Saturday, 9,000 devotees converged at ancient Nagni Mata Temple on the eve of Baisakhi on Sunday. However, the people lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir tourism department in general and Bhaderwah development authority (BDA) in particular for not being able to promote the prehistoric events under pilgrimage tourism.

Nagni dhar, named after the serpent goddess Nagni Mata, islocated in a dense forest, eight kilometers from Bhaderwah town. Traditionallyhundreds of devotees converge every year on the eve of Baisakhi to payobeisance at the 800 year-old temple.

   

Bhaderwah Valley, besides being famous for snow-peakedmountains, lush green high altitude meadows and numerous fresh water bodies, isalso known for its unique Nag culture. According to local faith, Nagni Mata isa major symbol of the ancient culture.

After union and state government decided to promoteBhaderwah as a major tourist destination and to give it a practical shape,Bhaderwah Development Authority was established. Since then, people have beendemanding ancient and unique festivals and fairs should be brought under theambit of pilgrimage tourism, in order to attract more tourists and to make it around the year affair.

“It is really unfortunate and uncalled for on the partof BDA and tourism department that Bhaderwah is not being promoted at anyforum. Despite repeated requests, they did not even install hoardings toattract and welcome pilgrims visiting these historic events, which shows theirnon seriousness and pathetic attitude towards promoting tourism inBhaderwah,” said Manoj Kotwal, a tourism player of Bhaderwah.

“During my official assignment, I came to know aboutthe ancient temple. After visiting it, I was taken completely off guard to seethe mystic beauty of the place. To add charm to it, the ancient temple housesan idol of goddess Nagni,” said Ghansham N Jha, a devotee from Delhi.

“I am here for the second consecutive year with myfamily as I fell in love with this place, but I am unable to understand why theauthorities have kept these places under wraps for such a long time. Ifprompted properly, this place can become as popular as Vaishno Devi, Shiv Khoriand Amarnath Yatra,” Jha added.

Besides common devotees and tourism players, members ofNagni Seva Sang, who voluntarily make all the arrangements for thousands ofdevotees, are also up in arms against BDA and tourism department.

“During a meeting with BDA, the CEO showed a lot ofinterest and enthusiasm to project and promote ancient Subar Dhar and NagniMata Baisakhi festivals. But all his excitement fizzled out as he did notinstall a single hoarding or used social media to attract tourists. Is this theway to attract tourists?” said Dhananter Singh, executive committee memberof Nagni Mata Sang.

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