RANCHI: Amid the escalating tension between India and Pakistan, a special puja was performed at Ranchi’s historical Pahari Mandir for the well-being of our soldiers.
With photographs of Bharat Mata along with Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh in their hands, several youths assembled at the Shiva temple for prayers. During the puja, the priest chanted mantras for the victory of the Indian Armed Forces. Later, the youth raised slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Har Har Mahadev’, ‘Indian Army Zindabad’, and ‘Hindustan Zindabad, Pakistan Murdabad’.
“We have gathered here to pray to ‘Pahari Baba’ for the well-being of our soldiers and India’s victory over Pakistan. Nobody has returned empty-handed from this shrine. We offered ‘abhishek’ with milk to Pahari Baba,” said Uttam Yadav, president of Rashtriya Yuva Shakti, which organised the puja.
One of the youths, Priti Sinha, added, “We have prayed to Pahari Baba to give so much strength to our soldiers that Pakistan gets annihilated, so that no other country may ever dare any kind of misadventure with us.”
Pahari Mandir is an ancient Shiva temple on a barren hill, which attracts hundreds of devotees from Ranchi and nearby areas. Notably, during the colonial era, British authorities used to hang freedom fighters on this hill, and therefore, it was named ‘Fansi Tongri’ (hangman’s hill).
To keep their memory alive, the temple has been unfurling the Tricolour Independence and Republic Day since 1947. Perhaps it is the only place of worship in the country with such a custom.
A plaque on the temple wall also indicates the spot where the Tricolour was first hoisted on the midnight of August 14, 1947, by freedom fighter Krishna Chandra Das to honour his martyred friends.