The Fairground Experience
Customs
Commerce
Kanaknather Mela
Snan Jatra by the Gadadhar River, 2024
To the Fair for a Holy Dip
The Snan Jatrar Mela is held on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the festivities for Annapurna/ Basanti Puja. Devotees take a dip in the river while offering prayers in memory of their ancestors. Several such fairs are held along the mighty river Brahmaputra and his tributaries. We visited the fair at the confluence of Gadadhar and Kaljani rivers. As it happens, these sinous rivers empty into the Brahmaputra.
A set of images from Snan Jatrar mela. Being a jatra, going to the fair is an experience by itself. Victoris gather around the Gadadhar Temple complex. Then they proceed to take their holy dip in the river.
List of snan jatra melas held during Ashok Ashtami (Chaitra month of the Bengali calendar) is drawn on a google map platform. The snan jatra in Panishala is but one of the several melas held during this time of the year.