Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Collector Kumar Purushottam on Monday urged the people not to assemble in large numbers at bathing ghats of river Kshipra where a target of lighting 21 lakh diyas has been fixed on Mahashivratri festival which is falling on February 18. ‘Smooth arrangement on account of Shiv Jyoti Arpanam programme along with the safety of participants is our top priority. So there will be limited entry to the river ghats christened for the event,’ he said.
During his maiden meeting with media persons at Simhastha Fair Authority hall, Kumar Purushottam claimed that by hosting the event for the second consecutive year and thus, creating a new Guinness World Record would add to the glory of Ujjain. ‘Branding of Ujjain through the event will boost up economy which will ultimately benefit Ujjain. The expenditure of the event is being jointly borne by Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee, Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) and Smart City,’ elaborated the collector.
According to the new collector, who had earlier served here as SDM Ghatiya during Simhastha Fair-2004, preparations for the mega event of Mahashivratri at Mahakaleshwar Temple and Shiv Jyoti Arpanam programme at the main bathing ghats of river Kshipra simultaneously on February 18 were being made at a huge level. He said that ‘sankalp patras’ (resolution letters) are being filled by all those who want to light the diya (earthen lamp) on February 18. More than 300 socio-voluntary organisations were extending support for the event at river ghats. So far, data of about 22k volunteers have been received and 5k of them would be kept on reserve duty. Entry passes would be given to all volunteers besides providing participation certificates to all of them.
Ujjain Municipal Corporation commissioner Roshan Kumar Singh, Smart City CEO Ashish Pathak and Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee administrator Sandeep Soni were also present during the press conference.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
