Shrawan: Holy dip, prayers & race

ALLAHABAD: The first Monday of holy Shrawan month for Hindus saw a surge of devotees at prominent city Lord Shiva temples. Lakhs of devotees including Kanwariyas also took a dip in river Ganga which is now receding from the past two days.
Devotees could be seen queued up outside temples with ‘bel patras’ and milk since wee hours at Padila Mahadev, Mankameshwar, Someshwar Mahadev, and Surya Tankeshwar temples.Similarly, Hanuman temples and Shivkuti temples also witnessed heavy rush of devotees.
Elaborate security arrangements were in place to ensure law and order in and around the temples.
The traffic police department in association with the Civil Defence volunteers helped in the ensuring smooth movement of devotees in and around temples.
“There are only 29 days and four Mondays in the ongoing month of Shravan. Worship of Lord Shiva has a special significance on Monday so devotees turn up at the temples to pay obeisance to Lord,” said priest Pt Shivakant Trivedi at Mankameshwar temple.
Earlier the devotees took a bath at river Ganga braving the drizzle and increased water level.
“The first Monday in the month of Shravan usually witnesses a surge of devotees. To tackle the rush at the increased waters of the rivers, strict watch was kept at ghats to avert any accident,” said Rajendra Kumar, CDC warden.