Resolve cave pilgrimage issue in Meghalaya: High Court
A local village council declined to grant a no-objection certificate for Hindus to worship at a Shivaling-like structure in the Mawjymbuin cave near Mawsynram
GUWAHATI
The High Court of Meghalaya has asked a Hindu society and a village council to resolve their differences over the latter’s decision to ban worshipping at a cave with a Shivaling-like structure near Mawsynram, one of the wettest places on earth.
On August 6, an Assam-based hardline Hindu group threatened to block arterial roads leading to Meghalaya if the dorbar shnong (village council) of Mawsynram did not lift its ban on the pilgrimage at Mawjymbuin cave, about 60 km southwest of Shillong. The pilgrimage was organised by Yatra, a registered religious society.
Members of Yatra approached the High Court claiming Hindus have been worshipping Lord Shiva at the cave during the month of Shravan for years. The organisation showed permissions granted for the pilgrimage by the district authorities from 2011 to 2023 along with the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by the village council every year.
The counsel of the organisation also told the court that there has never been an attempt to establish any place of worship at the cave and the only act performed by the pilgrims has been to sprinkle water on the natural lingam.
Hearing the case on Thursday (August 8, 2024), the court granted time to the respondents to try and resolve the issue about the granting of the NOC. It fixed August 14 as the next date of hearing.
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Meghalaya
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judiciary (system of justice)
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hinduism