Nikitin Dheer visits Parmath Niketan Ashram with family in Rishikesh, offers peace prayer for late father Pankaj Dheer
Oct 24, 2025
Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) [India], October 24 : Days after the passing of veteran actor Pankaj Dheer, his family members paid a visit to Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh on Friday.
Visuals from the ashram show the late actor's son, Nikitin Dheer, along with the others in a deep conversation with spiritual guru Swami Chidanand Saraswati.
The family performed a peace prayer to honour the late Pankaj Dheer and also met Parmarth Niketan's head, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, before witnessing a Ganga Aarti. 
As per the family, the late actor had a deep connection with the ashram and always felt a sense of peace whenever he visited it in the past. 
Speaking to ANI, Swami Chidanand Saraswati shared details about meeting the family. "Pankaj Dheer played an unforgettable role as Karna in Mahabharat. Whenever he came here with his family, they would spend a lot of time at the Ganga Ghat. Today, his family came again and held a peace prayer at the ghat. They came here with a heavy heart with tears in their eyes, but left with strength," he said.
Pankaj Dheer, best known for his role as Karna in the iconic television series 'Mahabharat', left for his heavenly abode on October 15 after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 68.
The news of his death was confirmed by actor Amit Behl to ANI.
Behl, who had known Pankaj for over three decades, shared his grief and memories of his old friend, calling the news "shocking" and "really sad".
Pankaj's last rites were held at the Pawan Hans crematorium, where celebrities such as Salman Khan, Sidharth Malhotra, Arbaaz Khan, Puneet Issar, and Mika Singh, among others, paid their last respects.
A prayer meet was also organised by the family, where members of the film fraternity offered their condolences to the bereaved family. Among those present were Aditya Pancholi, Ashok Dubey, Ashoke Pandit, B. N. Tiwari, Baba Azmi, Babbu Mehra, Deepak Parashar, Jaaved Jaaferi, Esha Deol, Firoz Khan (Arjun), Harish Bhimani, Madhur Bhandarkar, Mukesh Chhabra, Mukesh Khanna, Mukesh Rishi, Poonam Dhillon, Puneet Issar, Raj Kundra, Ranjeet, Ratan Jain, Rikku Rakeshnath, Rohit Shetty, Satluj Dheer (Brother of Pankaj Dheer), Sharad Saxena, Surinder Pal, Tanvi Azmi, Tej Sapru, Upasana Singh, and Urvashi Dholakia.