Varanasi : In view of the Sawan month that begins on Monday, a meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Commissioner, Varanasi Division, Kaushal Raj Sharma, regarding all the facilities and security arrangements to be provided to the devotees visiting Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Additional Commissioner of Police S S Chinnappa, DCP Security Suryakant Tripathi, Chief Executive Officer Kashi Vishwanath Temple Vishwa Bhushan, ADM Protocol Prakash Chandra, ADCP Mamta, senior CRPF officers, related Assistant Commissioner of Police and other PAC officers, and all the concerned officers of the Trust and magistrates posted for duty were present in the meeting held on Sunday, a press release said.
In the meeting, the Commissioner directed all the departments to coordinate with each other and ensure effective implementation of all the basic facilities provided to the devotees in the temple, such as the availability of drinking water in the temple, medical management, crowd management, cleanliness of the entire temple, etc., on a wide scale.
In view of security in the temple, instructions were also given to complete the arrangements related to the smooth operation of all electrical equipment and CCTV. Instructions were given to tie up the hanging electrical wires in the streets outside the temple.
This year, many innovations are being made for the first time for security and convenience during the month of Sawan.
For the residents of Kashi, the facilities of darshan from 4 am to 5 am and 'jhanki' darshan from the gate 4B (Kashi Dwar) 4 am to 5 pm will be available every day except on Sawan Monday and festival days. This gate will be made available for all the residents of Kashi, including regular visitors, on normal days except on Sawan Monday and other festival special days.
For entry from this gate, entry will be valid on the basis of an Aadhar card with the registered address of Kashi, a voter identity card, an EPIC card, a driving licence, etc. ID cards; hence, no payment-based entry pass will be required.
This year, for the first time, gate 4A (via Silko Gali) has been made for entry towards Maidagin, before gate no. 4 for darshan.
This year, for the first time, arrangements have been made to make the extra crowd sit on the ramp at Saraswati Park to reduce the pressure of the crowd at the Saraswati Gate entrance in special circumstances.
Along with the zig-zag arrangement on this entry route, shade has also been arranged to protect from heat. In all such places where it is not possible to install German hangers, shade has been ensured for the first time by the arrangement of awnings.
Similarly, for the first time in this Sawan month, the facility of live darshan of Kashi Vishwanath Mahadev's darshan-pujan will also be available. The live darshan will be streamed from the temple trust's website, the temple trust's official YouTube channel, and the official broadcast partner Tata Sky's platform.
For the first time this year, effective arrangements have been made to prevent barricade defacement due to crowd pressure by tying barricade logs on both the top and bottom of the zigzag railing. Railings have also been installed for the convenience and safety of devotees on the steep stairs from the ghat side.
This year, a new arrangement has been made so that the devotees standing in line can get relief from humidity and heat through industrial air coolers.
Among other facilities, like every year, there will be provision of cold drinking water in the entire temple area at regular intervals. Arrangements have also been made for medical management and the availability of ORS and glucose as per requirements.
The Sawan month, falling typically between July and August, marks a period of worship, fasting, and pilgrimage, dedicated to the deity of destruction and transformation.
Sawan holds a special place in Hindu mythology as the month when Lord Shiva is believed to have consumed the poison that emerged from the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan), saving the universe from its toxic effects.
Devotees undertake fasting and offer prayers to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva during this period. The cooling rains of Sawan are symbolic of Shiva's compassion and benevolence.