PM Modi to be greeted at Baidyanath Dham with ‘Vedic mantras’, conch-shell blowing

The famous Baba Baidyanath temple, one of 12 Jyotirlingas or major Shiva shrines in the country, is all decked up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, amid chanting of ‘Vedic mantras’ and blowing of conch shells.

The temple, also called ‘Baidyanath Dham’, has been decorated with lights and flowers.

Some 270-km from the Jharkhand capital, the shrine attracts thousands of pilgrims who come ahead of the ‘Shravani Mela’ which starts on July 14. ”As soon as the prime minister will reach the VIP door of the temple, he will be greeted with flowers, amid blowing of conch-shells by a group of 11 priests who perform ‘sandhya aarati’ at the temple. He will be then escorted to ‘Sammukh door’ (the front door) for ‘Ganesh Pujan’.

”The PM will offer prayers in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, amid chanting of ‘Vedic mantras’ by the priests,” Panda Dharmarakshini Sabha general secretary Kartik Nath Thakur told PTI.

Thakur, who has welcomed many dignitaries to the temple, including President Ram Nath Kovind and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, said a group of 11 priests will chant ‘Vedic mantras’ and ‘Swasti Path’, adhering to religious rituals.

PM Modi will be there at around 2.30 pm, and once the offerings will be made, priests of Dharmarakshini Sabha will give a ‘prateek chinha’, a memento, and blessings to him, said Thakur who is also a member of the Baba Baidyanath Shrine Board. He said it was a moment of ‘pride’ for Deoghar and Jharkhand.

”Much enthusiasm prevails among priests here. They all pray that India becomes a leading power under PM’s Modi leadership,” he said.

”All arrangements have been made for special prayers in the temple’s sanctum sanctorum,” another priest of the Baba Baidyanath Dham temple, Dr Prakash Bhardwaj told PTI. He said the PM will perform ‘Rudrabhishek’ with offerings of curd, milk, turmeric, honey, flowers, ‘belpatra’ and peda (sweetmeat).

Thakur and Bhardwaj mentioned that special security measures have been made by the Special Protection Group (SPG) for the PM’s visit to the town, and a minimum number of priests have been allowed to involve in the programme.

PM Modi on Monday had tweeted: ”Will have the fortune of ‘darshan’ and worship at Baba Baidyanath Temple at the holy city of Deoghar just before the beginning of Shravan. Baidyanath Dham Deoghar is one of the most sacred sites for us.” He also mentioned that the shrine attracts people from all over the world and during his visit, ”some components of the development project at the temple will be inaugurated” which would boost spiritual tourism.

All those who will accompany PM Modi during the prayer at the Baidyanath Dham have been tested for Covid-19 as a precautionary measure for his safety, an official said.

Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Majunath Bhajantri urged devotees to visit the Baidyanath Dham only after 3.30 pm on Tuesday to avoid any inconvenience caused due to the security arrangements. Apart from paying obeisance to Lord Shiva at the temple, Modi will also lay foundation stones for various development initiatives worth over Rs 16,800 crore and take part in an 11.5-km-long road show. The deputy commissioner also said that people from far and wide had been arriving in Deoghar to participate in the ‘Shravani Mela’, which is set to commence on July 14, and arrangements have been made for their safety, too.

The ‘Shravani Mela’ is considered to be Jharkhand’s biggest socio-religious event for which more than 35 lakh devotees from across the country and abroad gather at Baba Baidyanath temple during the month of Shravan every year.

BJP workers claimed to have lit over one lakh earthen lamps across the district on Monday evening to welcome the PM.

Enthusiasm is palpable among BJP workers over the PM’s programme, with some of the saffron party leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey, calling the 11.5-km-long road show a ”historic event”.

Posters and banners welcoming the PM have been put up in several parts of Deoghar.

According to officials, lakhs of people are expected to witness or take part in the road show on Tuesday, and measures are being taken in the region to ensure that the programme passes off smoothly.