Dumka: Over 4 lakh pilgrims offered prayers at Baba Baidyanath Dham temple in Deoghar on Monday as the third Somwari of the holy month of Shravan coincided with Nag Panchami and the concluding day of Bangla Shravan.The temple premises turned into a sea of saffron as kanwariyas from across the country gathered to perform jalabhishek and get darshan of the deity. Kanwariyas and pilgrims began offering water to the deity through the inner and outer arghas after 4 am, following the completion of daily rituals by temple priests. By around 9 am, nearly 1 lakh devotees were estimated to have completed jalabhishek.District officials said the footfall remained high throughout the day as deputy commissioner Saurabh Bhuwania and SP Praveen Pushkar supervised arrangements from early morning and visited key locations along the temple and mela routes to assess the situation.“Officials and personnel have been deployed at critical points to regulate the movement of devotees and ensure that pilgrims could perform darshan and jalabhishek safely and smoothly,” he said.Pushkar said security had been strengthened across the temple complex, queue corridors and major mela areas. “Senior police officers have been stationed at strategic locations and continuously monitoring the movement of devotees,” Pushkar said, adding that personnel were instructed to prevent overcrowding and maintain orderly queues.
