gababas not satisfied with reception

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 11: The undercurrents over the control of the Ambubachi Mela that have all along been there since last year have started to come to the fore. The Devalaya authority could not take the ming of the Ambubachi Mela as ‘Mini Kumbh Mela’ by some pilgrims from rest of the country without a pinch of salt.

Not satisfied with the arrangement made for ga Babas, their Thapati Mahant Govind Giri said: “ga Babas come all the way from various areas of the country for this Mela. This is not new for them. They’ve none, neither in their front nor in their back. There’s none from the administration nor from the devalaya to inquire us as to how we’re here. The age-old practice in this mela is that the ga Babas are given shelter at Ju Akhra on the temple premises. However, we’ve been asked to take shelter at Abhayanda Ashram this time around. We’re not going there. This year our procession is going to be as strong as 1,000, and forty of them have already arrived. Any bearded with long hair can’t be a gababa.”

Earlier in the day, Doloi Pabindra Sarma said: “We’ve shifted the focus away from gababas as their activities are disturbing. There activities aren’t in sync with the Assamese culture and practice.”