LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Deoghar, July 11: All those who will accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he offers prayers at the Baidyanathdham Shiva temple in Deoghar on Tuesday, have been tested for the Covid-19 as a precautionary measure for his safety from the deadly virus.
As such the temple management has resolved to withhold the entry of common devotees in the Baidyanathdham temple for four hours before the arrival of the PM who is likely to stay there for nearly one hour.
The decision to close the temple premises for the common devotees has been taken to ensure proper sanitization of the entire temple premises and the sanctum sanctorum to facilitate the PM pay offerings in a healthy manner.
“Besides Covid 19 tests of all the priests and dignitaries who will be accompanying the Prime Minister during his stay in the Baidyanathdham have already been performed and have thankfully all been tested negative,” Abhijeet Sinha, the sub divisional officer (SDO) civil cum in-charge of the Baidyanathdham temple stated.
He added that precautions were being made to procure all the items of the Puja paraphernalia to be used for the offerings to be made by the PM at Baidyanathdham temple, one of the dwadasa jyotirlingas and Shakti Pitha to have been ever visited by any working Prime Minister.
Panda Dharmarakshini Sabha, the local priests body, sources said a group of eleven priests, including the Sardar Panda (high priest) Gulab Nand Jha and the ancestral priest of the Prime Minister Daninath Naroni will assist him in performing the offerings amidst the chanting of Vedic slokas.
“The Prime Minister will first perform the Puja of Ganesh and Gauri before entering into the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple of the Lord where he will perform Rudrabhishek of the deity in Shodopchar process of offering amidst chanting of Vedic mantras,” said a local Panda, adding that the Puja paraphernalia will comprise curd, turmeric, milk, honey, flowers and vilwapatras, akchhat beside number of other items and of course Pedas, the main naivedyam of the Baidyanathdham temple to be offered to the deity.
“Fifty one KGs of Peda are being prepared under administrative glare for the offerings to be made by the PM apart from many other sweets,” said an official involved in the affairs.
Godda BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, senior Congress leader and lifelong member of the temple management committee Krishnanand Jha, president of the local priests body Suresh Bhardwaj and general secretary Kartik Nath Thakur are prominent among others to accompany the PM inside the temple premises who have all been performed the Covid 19 tests to rule out the infliction of the virus to the PM.
