In view of the influx of devotees at the Dhabaleswar temple in Athagarh during the holy month of Kartik, the Cuttack district administration has made special arrangements for the Bada Osha of lord Shiva.
This year, the Bada Osha, one of the major festivals at the Dhabaleswar temple, falls on Thursday.
The shrine already witnessed devotees in large numbers on last Monday of Hindu holy month in morning.
As the Panchaka (five-day festival towards the end of Kartik) begins on Tuesday, the shrine will open from 5 am. However on Bada Osha, the temple administration has decided to open the door for devotees from 3.30 am in anticipation of a huge rush.
The fasters standing in long queue would get Gaja Bhoga (a type of rice cake stuffed in moong) after having darshan of lord Shiva in early morning. The temple would open at 4 am on Kartik Purnima (last day of the month), informed Temple Priests’ Committee president Bishu Charan Patri.
The district administration has made arrangements for the devotees to cross river Mahanadi by boat to reach the shrine. Initiative has been taken by the police administration to control the crowd going through the hanging bridge over the river.
As many as nine Additional SPs, DSPs, 24 officers in rank of Inspector, 225 Home Guards and nine traffic officials have been deployed for safety and traffic control in the area.
The four-wheelers will not be allowed to enter the nearby Paikapur village and the vehicles will be restricted before half a km of the village. There are parking arrangements for two-wheelers. The buses will be parked at the Nuapatna IB. The four-wheel vehicles will return from the parking area at Nuapatna Square via Kafibar Square, Suniamuhan village to reach NH-56.
Emphasis will be made on allowing the number of devotees not exceeding 600 on the hanging bridge. Vigil will be kept prohibiting the boatmen to pick devotees beyond a vessel’s capacity.
Two ODRAF teams would be deployed on the spot for safety of devotees. Police personnel would be stationed at all the sites along with making arrangement for barricades, informed DIB DSP Nagarjuna Pradhan.
