The month-long Deoghar Shrawani mela in Babanagari, also known as Babadham, is about to conclude in a week,but there is no letup in zeal and excitement of devotees, who can still be seen rushing to Jasidih braving blistering heat aggravated by below- average rain fall this year. Long queues of kawariyas in bhagwa (Saffron) dress, shouting bol bum, carrying Kanwar (Earthen pot) filled with holy water of river Ganga is a record of sorts. On Saturday itself, thirty five thousand kanwariyas had offered Gangajal to lord Shiva– the main deity–till 4 pm, which was estimated to be more than sixty thousand by the Sundown. According to official sources, as of now nearly thirty five lakh devotees and around one lakh dak bum (one who sprints to the temple) have visited Devghar. This year biometric photo capturing system has been used to count the number devotees.
The Shrawani Mela is usually held in the month of July and continues for a month. Over a crore pilgrims from across the country, visit here every year to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva.
Devotees, in the first leg of journey, gather at Sultanganj to collect holy water from the river Ganga at Sultanganj ghat, where the Ganga becomes uttarvahini (flows north-south).Devotees trek nearly 90 km from Sultanganj on foot carrying kanwars on their shoulder containing holy water from Ganga. On reaching Baidyanath Dham at Deoghar, the devotees pay obeisance to the God by pouring holy water on the Shivalinga.
