Patna: A huge crowd of devotees gathered at Baba Garibnath Temple in Muzaffarpur on the second Monday of Shrawan with flowers showered on kanwariyas from a helicopter for the first time in the district. The arrangement was made by the state govt and tourism department.On Monday morning, the helicopter showered flowers along the route from Harisabha Chowk to Baba Garibnath Temple. It was the first time kanwariyas carrying holy water from Pahleja Ghat to Baba Garibnath Dham were greeted with a shower of flowers from the sky. The atmosphere was filled with chants of “Har Har Mahadev”.According to the district administration, flowers were showered at Harisabha Chowk, Ramdayalu, Baba Garibnath Temple, Sahu Pokhar and around District School. The aim was to boost the enthusiasm of devotees arriving for jalabhishek on the second Sawan Monday and make the religious gathering more special.Every year, the administration, various departments and voluntary organisations make arrangements for kanwariyas travelling from Pahleja Ghat to Muzaffarpur. However, this was the first time a helicopter flower shower had been organised in the district.Temple priest Abhishek Pathak said, “It is a matter of great joy that flowers were showered on devotees of Baba Garibnath from a helicopter for the first time.” He estimated that more than 3 lakh kanwariyas would offer water at the temple on the second Monday, besides a large number of local devotees.In view of the heavy crowd, the district administration strengthened security and traffic arrangements. Continuous announcements were made along the kanwar route to provide necessary information to devotees.Helicopter flower showers have been a regular feature during kanwar yatras in states such as Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time such an event was held in Bihar.
