Special arrangements for Bada Osha at Odisha’s Dhabaleswar temple

Cuttack: In view of influx of devotees at Dhabaleswar temple during holy month of Kartik, the district administration has made special arrangements for upcoming Bada Osha of Lord Shiva here.

This year, the Bada Osha, one of the major festivals at Dhabaleswar temple, falls on Thursday. The shrine already witnessed devotees in large number on last Monday of Hindu holy month this morning.

As the Panchaka (Five-day festival towards of end of Kartik month) begins on Tuesday, the shrine will open from 5 am. However on Bada Osha, the temple administration has decided to open the door of the shrine from 3.30 am for the devotees.

The fasters standing in long queue will get Gaja Bhoga (a type of rice cake stuffed in moong) after having darshan of Lord Shiva in early morning. The temple will open at 4 am on Kartik purnima (last day of Kartik month), informed Temple priest committee president Bishu Charan Patri.

Elaborate arrangements have been made by the district administration for smooth conduct of darshan on Bada Osha and for Panchaka Brata. There are arrangements for the devotees to cross the river on boat to reach the shrine. The initiative has been taken by the police administration to control the crowd going through the hanging bridge on Mahanadi River.

As many as nine Additional SPs, DSPs, 24 officers in rank of Inspector, 225 home guards and nine traffic officials have been deployed for safety and traffic control in the area.

The four wheelers will not be allowed to enter Paikapur village and the vehicles will be restricted before half km of the village. There are parking arrangements for two wheelers. The buses will be parked at Nuapatna IB. The four wheel vehicles will return from the parking area at Nuapatna square via Kafibar square, Suniamuhan village to reach NH 56.

The emphasis will be laid allowing the number of devotees not exceeding 600 on the hanging bridge. Vigil will be kept prohibiting the boatmen to pick devotees beyond the vessel capacity.

Two ODRAF teams will be deployed on the spot for safety of devotees. The police personnel will be deployed at all the sites along with making arrangement for barricades, informed DIB DSP Nagarjuna Pradhan.