Shravani mela may not take place this year, hint Deoghar administration

Dumka: Deoghar’s famed Shravani mela, one of the biggest religious congregations of Jharkhand and Eastern India, is expectedly heading towards a no-show this year amid the outbreak of the coronavirus and subsequent cancellation of religious activities in the state till June 30.
Though the state government is yet to make a formal announcement, officials in the district administration are of the view that the fair may not take place this year. “It’s been over a month since we sought guidelines from the state government, but haven’t heard anything from them. Now, there is no time for preparations even if a last moment nod is given,” said a source in the district administration.
This year’s Shravani mela, a month-long affair, is slated to begin from July 5 and the district administration is yet to begin preparations.
Deoghar DC Nancy Sahay said, “The ban on opening of temples for public is in force till June 30, but pilgrims from neighbouring states where the ban has been lifted has started reaching Babadham temple. We are now planning to prevent any form of congregation.”
Sahay added that five entry points around Babadham temple have been barricaded. “We have also written to the authorities in Bihar to flash information to the public about the continued lockdown at Babadham temple in Deoghar.”
Notably, it takes two months for the district administrations of Deoghar and Dumka (where Basukinath temple is located) to prepare for Shravani mela, which sees around 50 lakh devotees coming in from across the world. Devotees, known as kanwariyas, undertake a 100-km trek carrying water from Sultanganj in Bihar to offer it to lord Shiva at the Deoghar temple, which is also home to one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.
Sahay added that more security upgrade is in the offing to prevent unwanted gatherings, giving hints of no mela this time. She said, “We have planned to erect a three-layer barricading right from the bordering part along the kanwariya route to restrict them from entering the temple town. Amid the Covid-19 fight, it will be difficult to conduct the mela with no preparation.”
On the other hand, BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey and a few pandas of the temple have been demanding permission for the fair. Dubey has even threatened to move court if the state government doesn’t clear the air on the festival soon. He said, “Shravani mela never stopped even during other pandemics like plague or during the times of Mughal carnage.” He added that continuance of a ban on shrines does not hold any rational when the state government has eased restrictions by and large.
The priest community also demanded opening of the temple. “Offering sacred water to the deity by fetching water from Ganga in Sultanganj by kanwariyas constitute a mandatory annual religious ritual,” Kartik Nath Thakur, the general secretary of the Panda Dharma Rakshini Sabha, the local priests’ body said. He added, a delegation will soon meet chief minister Hemant Soren and governor Droupadi Murmu over the issue.