16 lakh take holy dip on Ganga Dasehra

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 14

Devotees thronged Ganga ghats on the pious occasion of Ganga Dasehra—regarded as the day when the Ganga descended on earth from the matted locks of Lord Shiva, after years of meditation by king Bhagirath.

From the wee hours today, devotees from across the country were seen arriving at Brahma Kund Har-ki-Pauri, and adjacent Ganga ghats in large numbers.

As per the mela control room figures, more than 15,50,000 devotees had arrived in the city for the festive occasion by 4 pm.

Besides Har-ki-Pauri, adjacent Ganga ghats of Malviya, VIP, Gau, Kushawrati, Birla, Alaknanda, Swami Vivekanand, Ram, Prem Nagar, Luv Kush, Maharishi Kashyap, Valmiki, Gobind, Pull Jatwada and others witnessed pilgrims and locals taking a bath throughout the day.

Maha Mandaleshwar Hari Chetnanand Maharaj said the Ganga descended on earth on this very auspicious day of ‘Jyesth Shukla Paksha Dashami’, from the matted locks of Lord Shiva due to meditation done by king Bhagirath to provide salvation to 60,000 sons of his forefather king Sagar.

Taking the Ganga dip and offering rituals, donating food, clothes and money to the poor and the needy on this day provides immense spiritual and religious bliss, he added.

Dharamshalas, ashrams, lodges, hotels, guest houses and state guest houses in the city were abuzz with activity today. Railway stations, bus stands and private bus and taxi service stands also witnessed a huge rush, with the state transport pressing into service additional buses on various routes.

Haridwar SSP Rajeev Swarup; City SP Navneet Singh Bhullar; and Circle Officer, City, Prakash Singh Dewli, monitored the whole festive proceedings.

Swarup also inspected the CCTV control room at the Mela Bhavan and guided traffic police personnel at the Shankaracharya square-Har-ki-Pauri stretch as vehicular traffic pressure was witnessed from the morning till afternoon on national highways 58 and 72 passing through Haridwar.

Besides about 1,000 police personnel, sleuths of the intelligence unit, a bomb disposal squad, cavalry squad, Jal police, firefighters and four companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) were also deployed to provide security during the Ganga Dasehra festivities.