Lakhs take bath in Ganga on Buddh Poornima
Tribune News Service
Dehradun/Haridwar, May 4
Lakhs of pilgrims and tourists arrived in this pilgrim city for the auspicious festive bath of Buddh Poornima here today.
About five lakh people arrived for the holy Ganga dip in the twin cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh, said the mela control room office.
Most of the dharamshalas, muths, ashrams, hotels, lodges, rest houses and guest houses witnessed a good turnout.
Hotel association office-bearers said that with the Char Dham pilgirmage on and the summer holiday season nearing, today’s festive bath had brought smiles on the faces of trader community.
People started arriving in large number at the sanctum sanctorums of Braham Kund, Har-Ki-Pauri, adjacent Ganga ghats of Birla ghat, VIP ghat, Malviya Deep, Nai Sota, Subash, Kushawrat, Alaknanda, Birla,Rishikul, Love Kush, Swami Vivekanand, Gobind ghat,Prem Nagar ashram, Ram Sita ghats of Haridwar and Muni-Ki-Reti, Triveni, Swargashram Ganga ghats in Rishikesh since early morning.
Devotees also paid obeisance at the shrines of Mata Mansa Devi, Mata Chandi Devi, Maya Devi, Mata Vaishno Devi, Shri Dakshin Kali Peeth, Neeldhara, Shri Daksheswar Maha Dev, Sureshwari Devi, Tulsi Manas Mandir, Bharat Mata Mandir and other shrines in the city.
Nodal police mela in charge Superintendent of City Police Dr Surjeet Singh Pawar managed the festive proceedings, with round-the-clock monitoring being done from from CCTV cell control room near Har-Ki-Pauri.
Senior Superintendent of Haridwar Police Sweety Aggarwal, Cirlce Officer Chandra Mohan Singh, Circle Officer Sadar Rajesh Bhatt, Circle officer Kankhal Manisha Joshi and CO Lakshar Jagdeesh Chandra Arya monitored the crowd and traffic movement.
A special religious programme was held at Geeta Vigyan Ashram, Vishnu Garden, in Kankhal. Maha Mandaleshwar Swami Vigyanand Saraswati Maharaj, addressing the devotees, said Buddh Poornima was a pious occasion of getting salvation by taking a holy Ganga dip and recitation of the Gayatri Mantra.
In Dehradun, the SC/ST Employees Union celebrated Budh Poornima at a function held here today. The members paid floral tributes to Lord Buddha on the occasion.
RL Kadam appealed to all to follow the teachings of Lord Buddha. He said Lord Buddha was born in Gaya, Bihar, and toured extensively to spread the message of non-violence.
He said everybody should work to overcome one’s weaknesses and improve strengths. He said that collective efforts were needed to eradicate evils from our society.
The members took out a rally which commenced from Rangers Hostel and passed through Subhash Road, Buddha Park, Darshan Lal, Clock Tower, Rajpur Road and culminated at Sports Hostel.
