Haridwar. On the occasion of the holy bathing festival of Ganga Dussehra, more than 15 lakh devotees took a holy dip in the river Ganga in Haridwar on Sunday. A huge crowd gathered at the Ganga Ghats of Haridwar for the bathing festival. Devotees from all over the country started reaching Haridwar from Saturday late evening for the bath. The process of bathing at the main bathing ghat Har Ki Pauri started from early Sunday morning and continued till late evening.
On this occasion, devotees took a holy dip in the Ganga. Padma Vibhushan Ramanandacharya Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya also took a holy dip at the Ganga Ghat in Kankhal. Police said that on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra, about 15 lakh 25 thousand devotees took a holy dip in the holy river Ganga.
According to the Puranas, on the day of Ganga Dussehra, Ganga came to earth from Devlok. It is said that when Ganga descended on earth, 10 types of special planetary combinations were formed, that is why Ganga Dussehra festival is also considered a festival that removes ten types of sins.
Due to the huge crowd on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra, there was a huge traffic jam at many places and people took several hours to reach their destinations. Haridwar businessman UC Jain said that it took him three hours to cover the distance of about two kilometers from home to his institute. Keeping in mind the possibility of a huge crowd gathering on the bathing festival, the administration had made adequate security arrangements.
Senior Superintendent of Police Pramod Doval said that keeping in view the convenience and safety of the devotees, the entire fair area was divided into 10 zones and 26 sectors and in view of the heavy traffic, a route change plan has also been implemented. In view of the crowd during the fair period, the entry of heavy vehicles was banned from Saturday itself.
Tags: Ganga river, bathing in the river Ganga
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 16, 2024, 23:37 IST