2L devotees throng Baidyanath Dham on first Somvari
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Dumka: The first Somvari, the auspicious Monday of the holy Shravan month at Baidyanath Dham and Basukinath Dham Shiva temples in Deoghar and Dumka districts, witnessed a footfall of lakhs of devotees from across the country and the globe.
They waited for hours in the serpentine queues, which are as long as 10 km during peak hours, for their turn to make their offerings or get a darshan at the respective shrines.
By Monday evening, when the sanctum sanctorum of the temple closed, the number of devotees easily crossed the two-lakh mark, officials said.
Being one of the Dwadash Jyotirlingas and Shaktipiths, the Baidyanath Dham is visited by a huge number of devotees and pilgrims particularly in the holy month of Shravan.
"Devotees started joining the long queues along the kanwariya route line on Sunday night which extended up to the Chamradih overbridge before the temple opened for offerings at 4:15 am," an official said.
At Basukinath temple in Dumka district, another famous Shiva temple traditionally visited by a vast section of the devotees arriving at the Baidyanath Dham to mark the completion of their pilgrimage, 90,000 kanwariyas paid offerings by 4 PM on Monday.
"By late evening, more than one lakh devotees visited the Basukinath temple to pay their offerings on the first Monday," another official said.
As a crowd control measure, kanwariyas are not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum since the beginning of the month-long Shrawani Mela on July 11 but were allowed to offer the sacred Gangajal and other puja paraphernalia into a large vessel (Arghya).
Large TV screens have also been installed to let the devotees witness their offerings pouring onto the Shivalinga through a channel connected to the Arghya.
"This is the third consecutive time I have arrived at the 'Babadham' temple during the Shravani Mela. The arrangements for the devotees have improved this time compared to previous years," said Devyanti Devi, a homemaker who came from the Saharsa district of Bihar.
Administrative officials, including Deoghar DC Naman Priyesh Lakda and SP Ajit Peter Dungdung, were seen monitoring the situation from Sunday night.
"Apart from the heavy deployment of security forces in and around the entire temple town, AI-based surveillance equipment, including CCTV cameras and drones, is being utilised to keep a close watch on the movement of the devotees and the long queues," Dumka DC Abhijeet Sinha added.
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