A sea of humanity flooded different ghats and Har Ki Paidi, in particular, since the day dawned on Thursday as the devotees in their lakhs from across the country thronged the holy city to mark the auspicious occasion of Ganga Dussehra-the celebration of the descent of the holy river on earth. The holy city would see the same on Friday too as it marks another auspicious occasion Adhik Maas Ekadeshi (11th day of lunar month).Keeping in view the mammoth turnout of the devotees for the holy dip on both the occasions, the district administration adequately revved up security in Haridwar.
Since the ‘mal maas’ or ‘adhik maas’ is now going on, Nirjala Ekadeshi would be observed after one month since the Ganga Dussehra is observed, say the priests. Notably, Purushottam maas or mal maas is an extra month in the Hindu calendar that is inserted to keep the lunar and solar calendars aligned and the month is dedicated to Purushottam, an epithet of Vishnu.
Traffic cops had a tough time managing the incessant stream of vehicles that were found on the National Highway. The mela region was divided into 40 sectors and 11 zones and security personnel were deployed at the sensitive areas along the roads in adequate strength. Apprehending huge traffic congestion, the district administration had directed the security personnel to reach their assigned posts early in the morning. On Wednesday, the District Magistrate Deepak Rawat and the acting Senior Superintendent of police Barinderjeet Singh had held a joint meeting with the district officials during which they had directed the officers and personnel- tasked with the duties for the two days- to ensure smooth flow of the traffic and also to see to it that the route diversions were rightly executed.
The cops were given special instructions to ensure that the people’s movement towards the ghats for the holy dip was not hamstrung in any way. “We have given directions to our cops not to let anyone to get stuck in the Ganga river zone for long. Regular announcements are made through public address systems to help the people move towards their destinations. Even on the ghats, we have deployed personnel who direct the devotees to immediately leave the ghats once they have taken the holy dip and not to stay there to change clothes,” said the Traffic CO Virendra Dabral.
The importance of Ganga Dussehra is immense in Hinduism. Mythology says that Ganga descended on this date on earth and the festival marking the grand occasion is celebrated across the country for ten days beginning on the Amavasya (dark moon night) and continuing till the Dashmi Tithi (tenth phase of the Moon), the day before Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi. It is celebrated on the tenth day of Jyeshtha month. It is believed that by taking dip on Ganga Dussehra, a person gets emancipated from three-fold sufferings of body, mind and soul.
Schools and Anganwadi Kendras remained closed
Following the local holiday declaration by the district magistrate marking Ganga Dussehra celebration, Government schools, private schools and Anganwadi centres remained closed on Thursday. DM Deepak Rawat said that the closure order involving the educational institutions was issued in view of the expected arrival of millions of devotees to the holy city from across the country. The DM also appealed to the devotees not to offer clothes and 'puja' articles in the Ganga. “ In case one offers such things as part of the ceremonial rituals they should be taken back and not left on the ghats. Such articles left on the ghats ultimately go into the river and pollute her. It is part of our religious duty to keep the river clean as it is deified as the divine,” he added.