Hapur: Schools shut for two days on account of Kanwar Yatra

A two-day holiday was declared on Friday for all schools in Hapur city in the wake of the ongoing Kanwar Yatra. The schools will now re-open from July 31.

In an order issued by District Magistrate Aditi Singh, it was announced that all schools till secondary level, will remain closed on 29 and 30 July.

Recently, schools and colleges in Meerut have were closed till July 30, keeping in mind the increasing number of devotees visiting Haridwar, the possibility of closure of roads for movement and for maintaining law and order.

The Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage of Lord Shiva's devotees.

Every year, around this time of the year, scores of these devotees from across India, often wearing orange-coloured clothes with decorated pots on their shoulders, undertake the pilgrimage, called Kanwar Yatra, on foot during Saavan- a month in the Hindu calendar.

These pilgrims, majority of who are young men, visit Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to fetch waters of River Ganga.

Later, the holy water is dispensed as offerings to Lord Shiva in temples.