Konark: Thousands of devotees took a holy dip at Chandrabhaga beach near Konark in Odisha’s Puri district, on the occasion of Magha Saptami, in the wee hours of Tuesday.
According to sources, the priests performed special rituals and the holy bath of Lord Triveniswar Mahadev of Madhipur, Lord Aishaneswar Mahadev of Santhapur and Lord Dakhineswar Mahadev of Kurujang at 3.50 am. After the completion of the rituals, several sadhus from Odisha and across the country took a holy dip and the devotees at 4.10 am.
The three Lords were taken on a procession by the devotees to the NAC ground at Konark on Monday night where they were offered ‘prasad’. From there, they were taken to the Tirtha Mandap near the Chandrabhaga beach.
According to mythology, Samba, the son of Lord Krishna, was cured of leprosy by offering prayer to the Sun God at the Chandrabhaga beach. With this belief, the devotees take a holy dip on the seventh day of the new moon of the Odia month ‘Magha’ and perform rituals at the beach to rid them of the skin diseases.
Taking note of the massive congregation of the devotees, the district administration had made elaborate security arrangements with the deployment of 30 platoons of police forces. Apart from this, life guards were deployed along the beach to keep a watch on the people taking bath in the sea.
