November 09, 2022 – On the last bath of the year of Kartik Purnima, there was a crowd of devotees at various Ganga Ghats, including Triveni Ghat. Thousands of devotees worship Lakshmi Narayan after bath, do charity, and pray for their families happiness, prosperity, and health. The bathing sequence started from Brahmamuhurta on the Ganges Ghats and continued throughout the day.
Mythological belief is that the gods come to the earth to bathe in the Ganges on the full moon day of Kartik month. Hence, this festival is also celebrated as Dev Deepawali. On Tuesday, the bathing sequence started from Brahmamuhurta at the Ganga Ghats of Rishikesh, Munikireti, and Laxmanjhula area. Devotees thronged the Ganga Ghats throughout the day like Shatrughan Ghat, Purnanand Ghat, Swami Narayan Ghat, Laxminarayan Ghat, Sant Seva Ghat, Bharat Sadhu Samaj Ghat, Parmarth Niketan, etc. But the maximum number of devotees reached Triveni Ghat for bathing.
During the half-hourly auspicious time, 6.30 am to 7.00 am, a maximum number of devotees took a bath at the Ghats. Due to the second Muhurta from 12 noon to 1.00 pm, many devotees took a holy dip at the Ganga Ghats. After 5.30 pm, the crowd at the ghats reduced a bit. During the bath, additional police officers were deployed at the main road’s intersections. Four-wheelers were not allowed to enter the Ghat road. However, the outstation vehicles were not diverted due to the non-high pressure of traffic on the main road. Water police and disaster relief teams were deployed for the safety of the devotees at the Ganga Ghats. The police officers also kept alerting the people.
Devotees took a bath outside the railing.
The water level of the Ganges was low at Triveni Ghat. There was knee-deep water on the stairs inside the railing. The devotees had to come out of the bar and take a bath in such a situation. With the lowering of the water level, the velocity of the water stream was also low. So the devotees did not face any problems. Devotee Ram Ratan of Delhi, Trilochan Singh of Haryana, and Nirmal Pal of Shamli said that while taking a bath, there was a lot of trouble due to the low water level. Devotees said that the railing should be raised to the sufficient water level on the river.