SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, July 30: A record over 2.71 lakh devotees offered pious Gangajal to Baba Baidyanath on the second Somwari (Monday) of Shravan month on July 29.
A senior official of the Deoghar district administration said that the second Somwari door of Baba Baidyanath (12th Jyotirlingam) opened at 4.15 am and closed at 11 PM. In 19 hours total 2,71,140 devotees offered Gangajal to Lord Shiva.
External and internal Arghya
98,795 devotees offered water through Brahm (external)Arghya while 1,72,345 Kanwar offered Gangajal through internal Arghya.
“On a normal day of Shravan month, the door of Baba Baidyanath opens for devotees at 4.15 am and closes at 9 pm. But expecting a mass rush of devotees on Somwari, the gate was kept ajar till 11 pm,” said the official.
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1,57,278 devotees offered Gangajal on first Somwari
On the first Somwari of Shravan on July 22, a total of 1,57,278 devotees had offered Gangajal to Baba Baidyanath of which 59,710 devotees offered through Brahm (external) Arghya while 97,568 through internal Arghya.
District administration officials engaged in Shravani Mela said that despite the rush of around 3 lakh devotees all of them offered Gangajal smoothly and no untoward incident was reported from any spot of 105 km long Kanwar Path from Dumma ( Bihar- Jharkhand border) to Baba Baidyanath Mandir.
Devotees did not face long queues or hustle and bustle situations at any spot on the way to Baba temple and smoothly offered Gangajal on their terms.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Vishal Sagar had one day ago ( Sunday) assessed the arrangement on the 105 km long Kanwarpath and temple premises for the second Somwari and directed the personnel engaged in the Mela management to ensure no one faces any problem and return with a better impression.
“Proper arrangement of cleanness with care on route honouring with the devotion of every Kanwariya around Baba Baidyanath Mandir premises made second Somwari a success,” said the official.
