Lakhs throng Areraj temple on 'Anant Chaturdashi' eve

Motihari: More than 2 lakh kanwariyas and 'dak boms' from Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Gopalganj and several other districts of north Bihar and bordering areas of Nepal congregated at the famous Someshwar Nath Mahadeo temple at Areraj on the eve of Anant Chaturdashi on Wednesday and offered holy water collected from Bagmati on the Shivlingam.
The temple is 30km from Motihari in East Champaran district bordering Nepal.
According to Shiv Puran, King Som constructed this 55 feet high temple almost 2000 years ago. It is also believed that this 'panchmukhi lingam' of Mahadeo is self-existent.
Areraj SDO Vijay Kumar Pandey said though every year Anant Chaturdashi mela draws a huge crowd but this year there is an unprecedented rush of pilgrims.
The district administration has set up eight control rooms between Belwaghat on Bagamati river to Areraj temple (75km stretch) where magistrates, cops and doctors along with medicines have been deputed.
Apart from these, a large number of policemen have been deployed on the 75km stretch for the safety of kanwariyas.
The district administration has also deployed a team of divers at Belawa and Khoripakar ghats of Bagmati river from where thousands of saffron-clad devotees were carrying holy water en-route Areraj for the last four days. Hundreds of kanwariya 'Seva Shivirs' are also functioning were volunteers were seen distributing fruits, tea and other essential items among the kanwariyas.
"Keeping the huge rush of pilgrims in view, elaborate security arrangements have been made around the temple and Mela ground. Adequate number of police personnel and magistrates have been deployed near the temple," said SP Jitendra Rana.
Arearj SDO, who is also the president of of Areraj Temple Religious Trust Committee said, "It is true we could not make arrangements for adequate accommodation for pilgrims here. But they have been given night shelter in 10 schools. At least three big dharmashalas are required here. More than 2 lakh pilgrims pose a serious challenge to both the civil and police administration. The volunteers are assisting police to keep the temple surroundings clean," added the official.