UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA, July 15, 2021 (Indian Express): The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 14) took suo motu cognizance of a report published in The Indian Express on the decision by the Uttar Pradesh government to allow the Kanwar Yatra this year with certain restrictions, even as the Uttarakhand government had suspended the yatra amid fears of a possible Covid-19 outbreak. The yatra this year, as confirmed by senior police and administrative officials in Uttar Pradesh, will be held from July 25 to August 6. Officials said that in 2019, the last time the yatra was organized, nearly 35 million devotees (kanwariyas) had visited Haridwar while over 20-30 million people had visited pilgrimage spots in Western Uttar Pradesh.

The Kanwar Yatra is a pilgrimage organized in the Hindu calendar month of Shravana (Saavan). Saffron-clad Shiva devotees generally walk barefoot with pitchers of holy water from the Ganga or other holy rivers. In the Gangetic plains, the water is taken from pilgrimage sites such as Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand, Sultanganj in Bihar, and Prayagraj, Ayodhya or Varanasi from Uttar Pradesh. Devotees carry the pitchers of holy water on their shoulders, balanced on decorated slings known as Kanwars. The water is used by the pilgrims to worship Shiva Lingas at shrines of importance, include the 12 Jyotirlingas, or at certain specific temples such as the Pura Mahadeva and Augharnath Temple in Meerut, Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar, Jharkhand, or even in the devotee’s own village or town.

Much more on the Kanwar yatra at “source”.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/kanwar-yatra-history-up-covid-7404983/