Thousands throng Narayan Sarovar in Gujarat

If you are a Hindu, the holy Narayan Sarovar in Kutch is a must-see pilgrimage spot. It is one of the five most sacred lakes in the country. The other famous lakes being Mansarovar in Tibet, Pampa in Karnataka, Bhubaneswar in Odisha and Pushkar in Rajasthan.

Thursday being an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar, celebrated as Dev Diwali in Gujarat, thousands had turned up from all over the country to pay annual tribute to their ancestors.

The ritual is called 'Pitru tarpan', in which water is offered to the dead, and was performed with a holy dip in the waters of the lake.

There were more pilgrims this year than last year and the lake was filled with fresh water from the good monsoon. The main flow of pilgrims was from western India, particularly Ahmedabad. As per legend the holy sarovar was created by Lord Vishnu with his toe answering the prayers of sages when the area had drought.

"The government has identified it as a major tourist spot with allocation of a special fund of Rs16 crore to develop it in a big way and attract more tourists during the Kutch festival next month," said Jayanti Bhanushali, MLA from western Kutch and district president of the BJP.

He said the chief minister, Narendra Modi, was holding Sadbhavna meets all over the state and was visiting Bhachau on November 19 to spread the message of brotherhood. In this light, it was important to note that the communally harmonious border district had for a long time a member of the minority community as sarpanch of Narayan Sarovar.