Every year, as the Hindu month of Shravan begins, millions of devotees undertake one of the most enduring pilgrimages, the Kanwar Yatra. They walk long distances carrying holy water from the Ganga to offer at Shiva temples, fulfilling vows rooted in faith, discipline and personal devotion. For centuries, this pilgrimage symbolised austerity rather than spectacle.
Over the last decade and a half, however, the character of the yatra has undergone a visible transformation. What was once a quiet act of devotion has increasingly become a highly amplified public event. Massive DJ vehicles, deafening music, decorative processions, temporary camps occupying roads, elaborate lighting, and sometimes dancers accompanying the procession have become familiar features.
For residents, the annual arrival of the yatra now signifies not merely a religious occasion but weeks of disrupted mobility, uncertainty and inconvenience. Key roads are diverted or partially closed, public transport is affected, emergency movement becomes difficult and commuters spend hours negotiating traffic bottlenecks.
The most worrying consequence this year, however, has been disruption of education. Administrations in parts of NCR ordered educational institutions to remain closed for more than a week because school buses could not safely operate amid traffic diversions. While many private schools shift to online classes, government schools and economically weaker students are left with few viable alternatives.
Schools today already struggle to complete the academic calendar. Summer vacations, winter holidays, pollution-related shutdowns, extreme weather events and public emergencies have substantially reduced classroom teaching days over the past few years. Every additional week of closure further compresses an already crowded syllabus.
For private schools, online classes provide only a partial solution. The situation is considerably worse in government schools. Thousands of students lack reliable smartphones, stable internet connectivity or quiet study spaces. For them, school closures effectively translate into complete academic loss. Educational inequality, already one of India’s greatest challenges, is inadvertently widened by such decisions.
Perhaps even more damaging is the symbolic message children receive. When educational institutions are repeatedly suspended for public events an unintended hierarchy of priorities emerges. A society that aspires to become a global knowledge economy cannot casually interrupt learning for extended periods every year. However, this is not an argument against faith.
The Kanwar Yatra is a legitimate religious tradition protected by constitutional guarantees. Millions derive spiritual meaning from it and the state has a responsibility to facilitate its peaceful practice. But constitutional governance requires balancing competing rights rather than allowing one right to overwhelm others.
The right to practise religion exists alongside the rights to education, mobility, livelihood and public order. None is absolute. The role of government is not to privilege one over another but to harmonise them. Unfortunately, administrative responses often appear driven by desire to avoid confrontation rather than careful planning. Instead of managing the pilgrimage efficiently, authorities resort to the easiest administrative option of closing schools, asking the public to adjust. Such an approach transfers the burden of governance onto ordinary citizens.
There are practical alternatives. Pilgrim movement should be staggered over time through better coordination with religious organisations. Large DJ vehicles and non-essential processions that have no intrinsic connection with the religious ritual could be regulated through reasonable restrictions on size, sound levels and timings. Loudspeakers should comply with existing noise pollution norms.
Religious traditions endure not because they become louder but because they retain their moral essence. The Kanwar Yatra earned respect over generations through discipline, sacrifice and humility. Recovering those values would strengthen rather than diminish the pilgrimage.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice