Community memories, published accounts, and the tradition we carry forward today.
The Samiti’s local history is presented as shared by the organisation: 50+ years of Shobha Yatra under Shri Guru Shyam Sundar Khatri Ji, carried forward by three generations. The wider regional history below draws on attributed published accounts.
At Gayatri Mandir, Sharda Nagar, Saharanpur, Shri Mahaveer Sewa Samiti has continued the Shobha Yatra for 50+ years, following the traditional observances under the guidance of Shri Guru Shyam Sundar Khatri Ji. Each year the procession is held on Ashtami, Navami and Vijayadashami, with the same spirit of reverence and joy.
View full photographThe Samiti recalls that Shri Guru Shyam Sundar Khatri Ji first took Maharaj Ji’s Swaroop 50+ years ago. Since then, the annual yatra has followed the traditional rules under his guidance. Today, three generations of Guru Ji’s family carry this religious responsibility as an act of sewa. Their continuity is at the heart of the Samiti’s living tradition.
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View full photographFor devotees of Sharda Nagar, these three days of Maharaj Ji’s mela are a cherished homecoming. Wherever they live, in India or abroad, devotees set aside their everyday commitments to attend, offer sewa and share the joy of the yatra with their community.
View full photographIn the history shared by the Samiti, Bhagat Dhuli Chand Ji Maharaj began this parampara approximately 150 years ago in the part of Punjab that is now in Pakistan. The Samiti preserves this as its inherited community account. Published accounts from other families describe their own lineages and names; these are included below as regional context, without treating the different accounts as one identical founding story.
View full photographThe Samiti’s photographs preserve the Swaroop, the preparations for worship, and the devotion shared by our families. These older photographs are presented as received from the Samiti collection. Their exact years are still to be recorded. These memories belong to the community that continues the parampara today.
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View full photographThe Samiti remembers this parampara as a legacy of Multan, now in Pakistan. Amar Ujala records an elders’ account of Balakrishna Narang taking Hanuman Swaroop in Multan and bringing a sacred idol to India. This is a recorded community account, rather than a single established founding date.
View full photographThe Tribune records Rajesh Nanda’s family account of Bhagat Dhalu Ram establishing a Hanuman Bhagat Sabha in Layyah in 1941. The family says it carried its idol to Panipat during Partition. Different family memories give this living tradition more than one account of its beginnings.
View full photographAfter Partition, communities rebuilt their lives and continued their worship in Panipat. Juginder Luthra’s published recollections describe families bringing their religious practices to the city. Today, Hanuman Swaroop is closely associated with its Dussehra celebrations. These memories show how devotion can endure displacement.
In Panipat’s reported practice, preparing for Hanuman Swaroop involves worship, fasting and a disciplined devotional life. Sewadars support the wearer during the procession. Rituals differ between sabhas and families; the Samiti’s own observances are guided by its elders.
View full photographThe Tribune describes the tradition’s spread beyond Panipat to Punjab and other regions. Mahaveer Sewa Samiti carries its own expression in Saharanpur: a three-day Shobha Yatra around Dussehra. Local routes, memories and sewa give our celebration its character.
Have a family photograph, an old programme, or a story from our elders? Help us preserve the Samiti’s local history.
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