Ranchi: Over 1.5 lakh people offered puja at Baidyanathdham till 5pm on Monday, the first auspicious Somvari at Deoghar this Shravan with the chief minister marking the occasion by interacting with kanwariyas over video hook-up from the capital and promptly agreeing to a request for temporary SIMs from a group of pilgrims from Nepal.
Sharing his experiences, Raghubar Das said he had been to Deoghar seven times, carrying a kanwar with water from the Ganges from Sultanganj in Bihar.
" Meine bhi sat bar kanwar le kar Deoghar ki yatra ki hai. Mein aapki kathinaiyon aur peeda se bhalibhanti awagat hoon. Tabhi meine kamna ki thi ki Baba Bholenath mujhe aapki sewa karne ka awasar dein. Aur aaj Baba Bholenath ki kripa se mujhe yeh awasar mila hai. Mein lagatar apki samasyaon ka nidan karne ka prayas kar raha hoon. (I have been Deoghar seven times carrying a kanwar. I know the problems you face. I had prayed to Lord Shiva to give me the opportunity to serve you. And today, by Baba Bholenath's grace, I got it. I am trying my best to solve your problems," Das said, urging visitors to contact him via Twitter or Facebook.
Bharat Kumar Shah, among pilgrims from Nepal putting up at Tent City in Baghmara locality of Deoghar, had a conversation with Das who immediately asked secretary Sunil K. Barnwal to give them temporary SIM cards after Shah said they couldn't keep in touch with fellow travellers.
"We can't interact with our friends and relatives accompanying us. It will be a great service if we are provided with temporary SIMs with validity of a week or so," Shah, who is from Janakpur in Nepal, said.
Mantu Singh Mau of Uttar Pradesh said he had been coming to Deoghar for years. "There have been drastic improvements in amenities in the last three years," he said, his sentiments echoed by pilgrims from various parts of the country.
Chief minister's interactions with kanwariyas, scheduled every Monday through the month, is among many measures the state government has taken to popularise the annual Deoghar pilgrimage.
"Monday signifies moon. Lord Shiva uses moon as an accessory on his head. It is perceived that a devotee's wishes will be fulfilled if he worships Baba in Deoghar on Mondays in the month of Shravan," Deoghar priest Manoj Naraune told this paper.
Deoghar DC Rahul Kumar Sinha said till 5.30pm, over 1.5 lakh people had visited the temple since puja began at 5.30am. The number was likely to touch 1.75 lakh by 9.30pm when temple doors would shut for the night.
"Apart from CCTV cameras and drones, policemen and magistrates have been deployed at strategic points. NDRF, RAF and ATS teams are on standby. Attention is being paid to healthcare and cleanliness ," he said.
On Tuesday, BJP veteran Arjun Munda will flag off Sewa Rath, a medical van to tour Deoghar and help ill pilgrims.
