Garhwal Post Bureau
Haridwar, 3 Dec: The ashes of the late film actor, Dharmendra, who had passed away on 24 November at his home in Mumbai, were immersed in the Ganga at Haridwar today. Dharmendra’s sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol arrived in Haridwar with their family and performed the immersion rituals according to traditional rites. Other close relatives were also present during the ceremony. The entire asthi visarjan programme was conducted discreetly, and no details were shared with the media.
The ashes were immersed this morning at a private hotel’s ghat located in Shravan Nath Nagar, Haridwar. Dharmendra’s four grandsons, along with his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, had arrived in Haridwar yesterday for the immersion. At 10 a.m. this morning, Dharmendra’s grandson Karan Deol is learnt to have visited and immersed some part of the ashes at Brahmkund on Har Ki Pauri also. The entire family, however, performed Ganga snan and puja at the Pilibhit House Hotel itself. The rites were conducted by the Teerth Purohit Rahul Shrotriya of the Motiram Rajaram Gaddi. Dharmendra’s family members appeared emotional during the immersion ceremony. After immersing the ashes, the family left for the airport to fly back to Mumbai.
Later, priest Rahul Shrotriya informed the media that after the immersion, the family members registered their names in the priests’ genealogical bahi registers and also affixed their signatures on the books. The relatives were reportedly astonished to see the names of their ten generations recorded in the register. According to Shrotriya, Sunny Deol told him that he had come to Uttarakhand for the shooting of Border 2 and would have certainly visited the priests had he known about their connection then. Rahul Shrotriya said that Sunny Deol promised to contact their family’s Teerth purohits very soon. Before this event, the ashes of Dharmendra’s brother, Ajit, were the last to be brought to Haridwar.
Speculation in Haridwar was rife yesterday regarding the immersion programme of Dharmendra’s ashes after Sunny Deol and his family were seen arriving in Haridwar. There were continuous speculations about the ceremony taking place either at Har Ki Pauri or the VIP Ghat. Media personnel gathered at the VIP Ghat all day, but the gates remained closed, and no one was allowed inside. The police had made arrangements at the VIP Ghat in the afternoon in anticipation of the immersion, but the family did not arrive there until the evening.
Dharmendra, who reigned over the hearts of Hindi cinema audiences for decades, passed away on 24 November. As soon as news of Dharmendra’s ashes arriving in Haridwar broke, it became the subject of widespread discussion. People waited at Har Ki Pauri hoping to catch a glimpse of his son Sunny Deol and other family members. However, the venue for the immersion remained undecided throughout the day, with attention shifting between the VIP Ghat and Har Ki Pauri. Neither the police nor the administrative officials provided any information about the programme, and the media, in particular, was kept away from the event. It is believed that the immersion could not take place on Tuesday for some undisclosed reasons. Furthermore, office bearers of the Shri Ganga Sabha also denied having any prior information about the programme.
