Kashi turns saffron as devotees throng KVT, other Shiv temples on 3rd Shrawan Somvar

Time of India

a day ago

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Varanasi: Roads leading to Kashi Vishwanath Dham turned saffron with a massive turnout of kanwariyas who have arrived in the city to offer jalabhishek to Lord Shiv on the third Monday of the Shrawan month.
A huge congregation of kanwariyas and pilgrims started reaching the city from Sunday, and by night they had occupied the entire area barricaded for the devotees. The sanctum sanctorum doors of the Kashi Vishwanath temple were opened after the Mangala Aarti in the early hours. The devotees queued up for offering prayers at the temple from Maidagin and Godowlia sides and were welcomed with shower of flowers by district magistrate Satyendra Kumar, the temple's chief executive officer Vishwa Bhushan Mishra, and other officials.
The massive influx of the devotees continued at the temple till late afternoon. In the evening there was a slight ease in the crowd and pilgrims did not had to wait very long to offer jalabhishek. They even had the opportunity to witness the Ardhanarishwar Shringar of the deity in the evening.
Additional Commissioner of Police (law and order) Shivhari Meena led the officials and forces deployed for crowd management and security arrangements.
He inspected areas including Maidagin, Godowlia, Ramapura, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Bulanala, Chowk, Dashashwamedh, and Gate-4 of Kashi Vishwanath Dham to ensure smooth and safe visits and traffic for the pilgrims and kanwariyas.
Despite the availability of less space for bathing due to floodwaters, the ghats remained crowded with kanwariyas and other devotees in a large numbers. Extra vigilance was maintained by police and NDRF personnel at the ghats along the river Ganga.
The entire temple complex and the ghats were monitored through a CCTV network and drones. Maintaining their years-old tradition, the traders associated with the Vishwanath Gali traders union took out a procession to Kashi Vishwanath temple to offer jalabhishek.
The procession, which started from Chittaranjan Park near Dashashwamedh Ghat, was also joined by many dignitaries including Varanasi City South MLA Neelkanth Tiwari.
The procession moved amidst the beats of damrus and sound of conch shells. At the beginning of the procession, 11 Vedic priests worshipped the pots filled with water from 84 ghats of Kashi and the same water was offered to Lord Vishwanath.
Devotees from Varanasi and neighbouring districts also thronged Markandeya Mahadev temple on the Ganga-Gomati confluence in Kaithi areas in large numbers to offer Jalabhishek. Temples like Mrityunjaya Mahadev, Kriti Visheshwar, Onkaleshwar, Tilbhandeshwar, Kedareshwar, Vishwanatha temple of BHU, and Sarangnath also remained heavily crowded with local devotees.