Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will lead the ‘Narsingh Shobha Yatra’ on Holi here, temple authorities said.
For more than seven decades, the yatra is a part of the Holi celebration in Gorakhpur where the chief priest of Gorakhnath temple leads the procession and thousands of people participate in it.
The ‘Shobha Yatra’ starts at Pandey ka Haataa and moves across the old parts of the city and ends at Ghanta ghar.
“The chief minister gave his approval of participating in the procession,” Vinay Kumar Gautam, a staffer in the Gorakhnath temple, said.
Till 1944, RSS workers used to organise the yatra, but later temple administration took over the task of organising it, Gautam said.
“Strict security will be ensured this year and the procession will start on March 2 at 8.30 am from Ghantaghar area. Before the procession, CM Yogi Adityanath will address people and as Peethadhishwar (head priest) of Gorakhnath Math, he will perform maha-arti of Bhagwan Narsingh. The procession will take the route from Ghantaghar to Madarsa Chauraha, Laldiggi, Mirzapur, Ghasikatra, Jafra Bazar, Charan Lal Chowk, Aryanagar, Buxipur, Nakhas Chowk, Reti Chowk and end at Ghantaghar,” Manoj Jalan, media in-charge of Sriholika Samiti, Gitanagar, said.
He added that Adityanath will be on a rath (chariot) and play Holi with gulal.
