By Avijit Biswas
Bhagalpur: The famous Shrawani mela officially started today. At a function held in Sidhi Ghat at Sultanganj, the mela was inaugurated by Smarat Choudhury, deputy chief minister of Bihar. Vijay Kumar Sinha, also deputy chief minister of state besides Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, minister for revenue and land reforms in state government and Lalit Kumar Mandal, Sultanganj MLA were present on the occasion.
Amidst chanting of mantras, a traditional lamp was jointly lighted by the dignitaries to mark beginning of the month long mela. In their address on the occasion the deputy chief ministers of state mentioned about the additional measures that have taken this time to ensure hassle free pilgrimage for the pilgrims. The deputy chief minsters beside minister present on the occasion assured all possible facilities for pilgrims in course of their journey.
During Shrawani mela every year large number of pilgrims cover distance of approximately 104 kilometers on foot up to Baidyanathdham temple at Deoghar in Jharkhand for paying obeisance to Lord Shiva. After fetching holy water from Ganga, the pilgrims generally perform puja at Ajgaybinath temple at Sultanganj before beginning their trek to Baidyanathdham.
The weather conditions have become congenial in this region due to start of mild rain, it is anticipated daily footfall of pilgrims arriving at Sultanganj for beginning their journey on foot for Baidyananthdham during Mela this time is likely to be more compared to previous years.
The mela arrangements at Sultanganj as well as pilgrim route has been made taking into consideration possible increased turnout of pilgrims. Major portion of the route used by pilgrims for trek from Sultanganj to Deoghar passes through Banka, Munger beside this district in state.
The local administration has made special arrangements at Sultanganj this time for convenience of pilgrims. Both at Sidhi Ghat and Jahaj Ghat in Sultanganj, nets have been fixed at ghats after barricading for safety of the pilgrims. It has been decided drone cameras would be used this time for proper surveillance of mela area.
Provision of separate entry and exit gates has been made at ghats for crowd management. Apart from setting up of a tent city having capacity of accommodating two hundred pilgrims seating arrangements has made for five thousand people at Jahaj Ghat.
In coordination with railways, the local administration has decided to have a prior estimation about likely daily arrival of pilgrims, for proper crowd management at Sultanganj.
A Shrawani Mela app has been launched this time by district administration through which pilgrims arriving at Sultanganj will be able to get themselves registered. Pilgrims can also know about Mela facilities besides places where the facilities are available through the app.
Earlier at the function held to mark beginning of Shrawani Mela the district magistrate Dr Nawal Kishore Choudhury welcomed the dignitaries present on the occasion.
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- Writer Avijit Biswas, former principal correspondent of Hindustan Times Bhagalpur bureau, can be contacted at biswasavijit@yahoo.comContact number (mobile): +919431095516
