Konark: The annual holy dip rituals at Chandrabhaga beach observed on the occasion of Magha Saptami, the seventh day of the waxing phase of the Odia month of Magha, will be held with limited devotees this year.
The Puri district administration and the Konark NAC Thursday organised a preparatory meeting for the annual ritual. Puri Collector Samarth Verma presided over the meeting.
Participating in the preparatory meeting, Sports and Youth Services minister Tusharkanti Behera said, “The ritual would be organised with strict adherence to the Covid19 norms of the Centre and state government. Officials of the district administration and all other stake holders will work in unison for smooth conduct of the holy dip.”
As per the information provided by Behera, only 500 people will be allowed to participate during the procession and that many devotees can take part in the holy dip with the deities. Verma put emphasis on all precautionary measures at the venue to keep novel coronavirus at bay.
“Section 144 would be clamped at the fair ground to check unnecessary congregation. The annual ritual would be conducted as per the religious tradition,” said Puri Sub-Collector Bhabataran Sahu.
As per the tradition, the presiding deities of Konark, Lord Tribeniswara, Lord Aisaneswara and Lord Dakhineswara embark on a grand procession to the Tirtha Mandap at Chandrabhaga during the auspicious occasion.
The deities then march to the NAC Bhoga Mandap and later they are taken for their customary bath early in the morning. The devotees then take holy dip at the beach before sunrise and offer their obeisance to the Sun God.
“All issues with regard to the rituals, drinking water supply, sanitation, power supply, health service, security arrangement and fire safety measures were discussed at the meeting,” said an official of the district administration.
Among others, Puri Additional Collector Binay Kumar Dash, Kakatpur BDO Sudhir Kumar Nayak, Gop BDO Diptirani Das, district Information and Public Relation officer Jitendriya Jena and Konark NAC executive officer M Srinivas were present at the meeting.
PNN
