Odisha braces to celebrate Shiv Ratri tomorrow

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 16:

Hectic preparations are underway at the major shrines of Lord Siva in Odisha for celebration of the Shiv Ratri festival tomorrow.

Elaborate arrangements have been made at the Lingaraj Temple in the capital city.

As per the schedule, the sahanamela (open darshan) of the Lord would begin at 4 AM while the Mahadipa would be placed atop the temple at 10 PM.

To ensure smooth movement of devotees, CCTV cameras have been installed inside and outside the temple.

A coordination meeting held on Sunday had discussed various issues including timely completion of rituals of the Lord, darshan of the devotees and their safety.

“Considering the large number of devotees, including the women and children, who will have the darshan of the Lord, we have made adequate security arrangements to regulate their movement inside the temple. We have taken specific measures for quick entry and exit of the devotees to avoid extra rush inside the temple premises. To keep an eye on anti-social elements, we have put up CCTV cameras covering all areas inside the temple,” police commissioner Dr RP Sharma said.

He also said the police have erected barricades outside the temple so that the devotees would move inside the temple in a queue. Besides, police have also put up ropes inside the temple premises up to the main temple to ensure that there would be no stampede like situation.

“Apart from this, we have deployed a striking unit and the Quick Action Team (QAT) and an intelligence wing to deal with any untoward incident,” he added.

In Athgarh, the Cuttack district administration has taken up elaborate security measures at the Dhabaleswar temple. As per the schedule, the devotees will have the sahanamela of the Lord at 5 AM while the Mahadipa would be raised at 1 AM.

Similar arrangements have been made at other major shrines including Baha Akhandalamani temple in Bhadrak, Kapilash Temple in Dhenkanal, Shri Lokanath temple in Puri and Gupteswar temple in Rayagada district, reports said.