‘Parshuram Mela’ begins at Parshuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh on the eve on Makar Sankranti

The famous Parshuram Kund Mela began yesterday in Arunachal Pradesh on the eve of Makar Sankranti. Devotees from across the country and Nepal visit the sacred place to take a holy dip in the Kund on the occasion of Makar Sankranti every year. According to Lohit District Administration under which the Parshuram Kund falls, more than 12,000 pilgrims have already visited the Mela this year. Last year, more than 40,000 pilgrims had visited the Mela.

Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein yesterday announced to make the Parshuram Kund Mela a calendar event of the state to boost spiritual tourism. The Arunachal government has made many facilities for the pilgrims like tourist lodges, guest houses, transit hospital, and a Mela office to help the devotees. A police outpost and other facilities have been made by the district administration.

During his visit yesterday, DCM Mein also inaugurated a free health camp organised by the 186th battalion of the CRPF, besides food stalls and the LED screen at the festival site. Speaking to the media he said the Mela would also provide livelihood opportunities to the locals and help them generate income and promote rural tourism.

Parshuram Kund, which is situated at the lower reaches of Lohit River is of great significance for the Hindus. Parshuram Kund is within the Kamlang Reserve Forest area in Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh. The Kund is surrounded by dense forest of Rudraksha trees, the fruit of which is considered sacred to Hindu ascetics as well as common devotees.

The Puranic story mentioned in the Kalika Purana, the Srimad Bhagavat and the Mahabharata say that Bhagwan Parashuram beheads his mother and eventually performs a penance. After his penance, he atone for his sin by taking a bath in the nearby Brahma Kund. Every year thousands of Hindu devotees throng the Mela and take a holy dip in the sacred Kund on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

The annual Mela is celebrated near Parshuram Kund, which is at a distance of nearly 3 miles from the north-eastern portion of Tezu, which is the district headquarters of the district of Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh. On Sankranti, a Parshuram Mela is held near this place in January every year, which is attended by innumerable saints and devotees from across the nation. Despite cold conditions, the Mela has seen an increase in the number of pilgrims every year.