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Bhubaneswar: A high-level preparatory meeting was held on Monday at the Lingaraj Police Station to finalise preparations & ritual timings of the ensuing Maha Shivratri festival of Lord Lingaraj on 21 February 2020.
The meeting saw participation of all the bigwigs of the Twin City police including, the Commissioner of Police Sudhanshu Sarangi, Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahu and Traffic DCP Sagarika Nath who detailed out the crowd management and traffic regulations to be put up during the occasion.
Though representatives of all servitor associations were present at the meeting, Brahman Nijog Samiti had excused them from the meeting protesting the non-transfer of the executive officer. However, the Nijog has extended its support in the smooth conduct of Maha Shivratri also called the Jagar Jatra.
Throwing light on the parking and traffic regulations, Sagarika Nath informed, “We have identified 14 numbers of parking places in the entire area, out of which six parking slots are dedicated for four-wheelers. It’s a three layer parking plan. The four-wheelers would be restricted to the outer-most layer. The two-wheelers will be allowed to the second layer of parking and the pedestrians will be allowed to the inner-most area of the temple.”
She further said, “Movement of four-wheelers will not be allowed beyond Mausi Maa Square and two-wheelers will not be allowed to move ahead after Badheibanka.”
It has been decided that the sacred ‘Maha Deep’ of Lord Lingaraj will be raised atop the 11-century shrine at 10 PM sharp.
CP Sudhanshu Sarangi said, “The ‘Jagar Jatra’ of Mahaprabhu Lingaraj belongs to all the devotees and not us. We are here to provide our support in the swift conduct of the affair.”
Sarangi requested all the stake holders including the Badu Nijog Samiti and the Sebayats to make sincere efforts to adhere to the timetable provided in this meeting and complete all the rituals in time because all eyes will be on Lingaraj Temple on that night and the sacred ‘Maha Deep’ of other temples will only be lifted after it is raised at the Lingaraj temple as per the tradition.
Speaking on the much controversial demolition drive undertaken recently to beautify the temple and its surroundings, Sarangi said, “To make something nicer one needs to break it apart first. The evacuation drive has facilitated passage of a lot more devotees during Jagar Jatra.”
Sarangi once again requested all the locals and devotees to use the designated parking places to park their vehicles and then take a walk to the temple.
He emphasised on the need of CCTV cameras those can be installed in various parts of the temple to keep a tab on the miscreants who prowl the temple premises and loot the valuables of gullible devotees.
