Lakhs of People take dip in Ganga, other rivers on Kartik Purnima

Alok Mishra

Patna: Lakhs of devotees took holy dip in different rivers of the state on the occasion of Kartik Purnima on Monday. At Patna, thousands of people took dip at different ghats of river Ganga including  Nariyal Ghat, Digha Ghat, Kurji Mor Ghat, Sadaquat Ashram Ghat, LCT Ghat, Rajendra Ghat, Bans Ghat, Collectorate Ghat, Kali ghat and Gandhi  Ghat. After taking holy dip, the devotees offered puja on the bank of river Ganga. Later, they enjoyed local dishes at  the ghats. The district administration as well as the local police stations had made elaborate arrangements at different ghats.

However, a major tragedy was averted on Mahatma Gandhi Setu when a truck broke the railing of the bridge and was hanging there with the driver and cleaner stuck inside the vehicle. Later, a Patna police team along with their counterparts of Vaishali pulled out the truck and saved the driver and the cleaner.

A lot of people were seen travelling on trains running between Islampur to Patna. Several people, who were  coming to Barh, Bakhtiarpur and Fatuha to take a holy dip in Ganga, were seen travelling on the roof of the bogies. The RPF personnel and GRP men were not there to stop them from travelling on the roof of the bogies. Some of the passengers  were also seen sitting on the engine of the train that stopped at Fatuha railway station. The passengers said that they  were forced to travel on roof as there was less number of bogies in the train.

Lakhs of devotees took holy dip at the confluence (sangam) of Ganga and Gandak at Hajipur (Vaishali) and Sonepur (Saran). Later, the devotees offered puja at Hariharnath Temple and then enjoyed with their family at Sonepur .Thousands of devotees also took dip at different ghats of Saryu river in Siwan with their families on the day.