Ranchi, July 31: Shiva temples across the state recorded huge turnouts today - the fourth Somvari (Monday) of the holy month of Shravan.

Devotee count was expected to exceed 1.50 lakh at Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar and 1.25 lakh at Basukinath Dham. About 50,000 people worshipped at Pahari Mandir in the state capital.

"The puja is going on smoothly. Till 5pm, nearly 113,000 people had offered prayers at Baidyanath Dham. A large number of devotees are still waiting in queues and their total turnout is set to exceed 1.50 lakh before the temple doors are closed for the day at 11pm," said Deoghar's district public relations officer Bindeshwari Jha.

Besides surveillance through drones and CCTV cameras, senior district administration officials made arrangements to facilitate smooth crowd management.

Last night, an abandoned polythene bag on Baidyanath Dham premises had triggered a scare. Senior police officials led by DIG Akhilesh Jha had promptly rushed to the spot. The area was evacuated and a search operation carried out for about an hour. However, puja in the main temple remained unaffected, even though the queue route of kanwarias was partially diverted.

"It was a false alarm. Nothing was found," the DIG said.

Dumka DC Mukesh Kumar said 1.02 lakh people had worshipped at Basukinath Dham till 6pm and the figure was likely to touch 1.25 lakh by 10.30pm.

"I personally camped there all through the day. The situation is fully under control," he added.