The sound of bells and chant of ‘Bol Bum’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ echoed across the city as thousand of devotees visited the temples to seek the blessings of lord Shiva on the first Monday of auspicious Shravan month .
The famous Pahari Mandir situated at the heart of the city was decked with colourful flowers and lights. The pilgrims waited in long queues since morning to offer prayers to the deity. To keep the darshan hassle free for the devotees inside the temple, separate queue for men and women was drawn while entering the temple.
However, the devotees who cannot climb to the main temple had the darshan at the wide lCD screen placed at the entrance of the temple. Huge rush of Kanwariyas was seen outside the temple. The kanwariyas wearing saffron dress and carrying the water from Namkum from the bank of Subarnarekha River reached the temple and performed jalabhishek on the occasion.
Around 8pm Maha Aarti was performed in the temple. Pandit Siyaram Sharma the oldest priest of the temple performed the rituals and the Maha Aarti. “large number of devotees queued outside the temple since wee hours and the crowd increases throughout the day. The temple is thrown open for darshan from 3am to 8:30 pm,” added Hari Jalan member of Pahari Mandir Vikas Samiti.
Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangement were put in place for the occasion. Devotees after going through the metal detection were allowed to enter the temple. There were 125 police constables out of whom 25 were women and 100 men constables. Besides, as many as 50 NCC Cadres and around 100 Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteers were also present to keep a hawk eye on the devotees. Moreover, to protect from any untoward incident 16 CCTV cameras were also installed at the strategic point.
“Tight security arrangements have been made for the devotees. Besides, cops the volunteers are also leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety and security of the devotees. The pilgrims are seeking peaceful darshan of lord shiva at the main temple,” added Sub- Divisional Officer (SDO) Sadar Amit Kumar who also happens to the chairman of the Pahari Mandir Vikas Samiti.
Meanwhile, many adolescent girls keeping fast on the occasion have also come there to seek blessings from lord Shiva. “It is believed that unmarried girls who observes fast on all Monday of the month gets good husband. I have also kept fast to get a good life partner,” said Sheetal Bhoot who along with her mother came to the temple to seek the blessing of Almighty.