Chief Minister Raghubar Das walked nearly 4 km in a kalash yatra from Hari Mandir premises in Baridih to Surya Mandir in Sidhgora in about an hour on Monday.
For the second year in succession, Das dressed in saffron T-shirt and white pant took part in the kalash yatra organised by the Surya Mandir Committee to mark the third Somvari of auspicious month of Shravan. Along with his 28 year-old son lalit Kumar Das (an HR official in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur) the distance showing no sign of exhaustion after he reached Surya Temple in Sidhgora at 9 am. More than 20,000 devotees, took part in the kalash yatra during the function.
Outside the Surya Temple, Das also watched the performance enacted from epics by a troupe of Sonari-based group. The Chief Minister then went inside the temple to offer ‘jal abhishek’ at the Shivalaya.
After offering ‘jal abhishek’, Raghubar Das speaking to media said that he prayed for the welfare of the State. He said that his prayers are for the uplift of the downtrodden, scheduled tribe and scheduled caste.
“Every time I come to the temple I feel blessed. I seek blessing from lord and pray for welfare. I have prayed that lots of downtrodden, marginalised, scheduled caste and scheduled tribe improves and they come at par with the mainstream of society. The difference in society between rich and poor should reduce,” said Das. “We should take inspiration from lord Shiva who drank both poison and Amrita and not get influenced by negative thoughts, evils and criticisms but always think on positive lines for betterment of society,” said Das.
The Chief Minister along with his son after performing the jal abhishek took Prasad (khichdi, puri, and mixed vegetable) which was arranged for nearly 30,000 person.
The Chief Minister left for Ranchi by a State chopper at 3.40 pm from Sonari Airport. Meanwhile, the 'HarHarMahadev' chant and sounds of bell resonated across the city as thousands of devotees thronged temples to seek blessings of lord Shiva on the third Monday of the auspicious Shravan month.
Temples were decked up with colourful lights and flowers. The devotees waited in long queues since early morning to offer prayers to the deity and sung bhajans. Inside the temples, the fragrance of agarbattis, sandalwood and flowers gave a pious feel. While the serene air that accomplishes religious festivities instilled a positive feeling among the devotees.
In the temples, devotees poured milk, curd, honey, ghee and bael (bilwa) leaves on Shivlings and prayed for the well-being and prosperity of the family. People also offered prasad (sweets) to the deity along with flowers which were later distributed among devotees. "lord Shiva is the one who removes all hindrances in the way of his devotee's life. During the month of Shravan, we visit temple every Monday," said a devotee Nikhil Akhilesh.