More than one crore pilgrims visit Gangasagar on Makar Sankranti, lakhs take holy bath

Lakhs of pilgrims from across the country took a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal on Makar Sankranti early Monday, a senior official said. Traditionally, every year during Makar Sankranti, lakhs of devotees visit Gangasagar in the South 24 district of West Bengal to take a ritual bath and engage in prayer rituals at the revered Kapil Muni temple.

“This year the crowd exceeded one crore, with lakhs of devotees taking a dip in the holy water. Additionally, these pilgrims also offered prayers at the Kapil Muni temple,” said state power and sports minister Arup Biswas. Describing the Gangasagar fair as one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, Biswas urged the central government to declare it a “national fair”. Last week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the same request.

The official said the exact number of devotees taking part in the holy dip would be available in the evening. However, according to a police official, ferry services to Gangasagar, located in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, faced disruption for about six hours on Monday due to dense fog.

Due to dense fog, ferry services were disrupted from 3.30 am to 9.40 am. The suspension was imposed as a security precaution,” said a Sundarban police district official. Due to the disruption, ferry services from Kachuberia and Lot 8 were affected. Superintendent of Police Koteswara Rao confirmed the resumption of ferry services after visibility conditions improved.

The disruption resulted in a backlog, with at least 40 ships ferrying passengers to Gangasagar stranded, the official said. In view of the huge rush of pilgrims, the state government has increased security measures at Sagar Island.

Apart from the state police, personnel from NDRF, SDRF and Coast Guard have been deployed with proper equipment to deal with any possible emergency. “Since the inauguration of the fair on January 8, around 65 lakh pilgrims have visited the Gangasagar fair till Sunday afternoon,” Biswas had said on Sunday. He said the fair ground spread across the beach is now covered with around 1,100 CCTV cameras. And 22 drones are under surveillance. Security personnel, including 14,000 police personnel, are monitoring the event and 45 observation towers have been built.

Pilgrims are being transported to Sagar Island through 36 ships, 100 launches and six barges operating at 22 ferries. 300 fog lights have been strategically installed to increase visibility on the Muriganga river.

According to Hrishikesh Panjika, the auspicious time of ‘Punya Snan’ or holy bath on Makar Sankranti started at 12.13 am on Monday and will continue for the next 24 hours. Most of the devotees will observe this time and take a holy bath. However, some devotees follow the Mahabir Panjika, according to which, the auspicious time of the holy bath started at 8.42 am on Sunday and will continue till 6 pm during the day.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)