Lakhs of pilgrims took holy dip in the Ganga river at Har Ki Paidi on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra on Wednesday. The festival was observed with much religious fervour with devotees thronging the Ganga Ghats from morning.
With two back to back snans of Ganga Dussehra and Nirjala Ekadeshi, pilgrims thronged from across the different states of the country to the holy city. The security was upped by the district administration in Haridwar.
The main bathing ghat Har Ki Paidi and other bathing ghats along the stretch of Ganga were dotted with pilgrims all through the day. Thursday will see again an important bathing date of Nirjala Ekadeshi (11th day of lunar month).
Traffic cops had a tough time managing the continuous stream of vehicles on the national highway. The mela sector was divided into 43 sectors and 15 zones and security personnel were deputed at the sensitive areas and crossroads.
From the early hours of the morning, the security personnel were directed to reach their posted points by the district administration.
A day before the occasion, senior superintendent of police Janmejay Khanduri and district magistrate Deepak Rawat held a joint meeting with the district officials giving directions for the smooth flow of traffic and implementing the traffic plan with route diversions.
Locals had some respite since the entry of Char Dham Yatra vehicles has been stopped in Haridwar for next five days. The vehicles coming from Delhi, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut were halted at Bijholi bypass and the vehicles coming from Roorkee were made to halt at Bahadrabad bypass.Vehicles coming from Laksar Pherupur were made to halt near Pherupur police station and vehicles coming from Dehradun Rishikesh were parked at Saprishi and Motichoor parking area.
The locals were allowed on hill by pass road after showing their identity cards only and those who failed to do so were diverted to a longer route via Jagjeetpur. Inspector general of Garhwal, Ajay Rautela has been camping in Haridwar for two days to avoid the traffic mess as seen on Somvati Amavasya some days ago.
The cops were given special instructions to keep people moving after taking holy dip. The SSP said,“We have given directions to our personnel not to let anyone stay in Ganga river zone for long. Regular announcements were made to the people through public address systems to keep moving towards their destination.
Even on ghats the deputed personnel were directing the pilgrims to immediately leave after taking a dip and not spend time in changing clothes.” Nearly 16 lakh pilgrims had taken holy dip till noon and the number was expected to go up by 20 lakhs at the end of the day, said the SSP.
Ganga Dussehra literally means the "birthday or descent of mother Ganga”. It is believed that the Ganga descended from heaven on this date and throughout the country, this festival lasts for ten days beginning on the Amavasya and going through to the Dashmi Tithi.
Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day of Jyeshtha month. It is believed that by taking a dip on Ganga Dussehra a person is freed from three-fold sufferings of body, mind and soul.