Deoghar, 14 February (HS). On the occasion of Basant Panchami, a huge crowd of devotees gathered at Baba Dham on Wednesday. People were seen here congratulating each other by applying Abeer-Gulaal. On the day of Basant Panchami, Baba's Tilakotsav is celebrated in the world famous Baba Baidyanath temple, which lasts for two days.
A crowd of faith is being seen regarding this on the first day. To perform this ritual of Tilak, a large number of devotees from Baba's in-laws house i.e. Mithilanchal have started reaching Baba Dham with different types of Kanwar. Every year on the day of Basant Panchami, a big group from Mithilanchal reaches Deoghar to perform Jalabhishek of Baba. These Mithila residents, who have a distinct identity with their special type of Kanwar, costumes and language, consider themselves to be Baba's relatives. That's why on the day of Vasant Panchami people come to Deoghar to participate in Baba's Tilakotsav. Then on Shivratri, Shiva returns with a resolve to attend the marriage.
The devotees who participate in Baba's Tilakotsav are called Tilakharu. This tradition of celebrating Tilakotsav has been going on for centuries. The people of Mithla believe that Mother Parvati, Sati, and Mother Sita belonged to the Himalayan mountain range and Mithila is in the Himalayan range. Therefore Mother Parvati is the daughter of Mithila. This is the reason why Mithila residents celebrate Tilakotsav from the girl's side. These Mithila residents, who came in many groups, gather at many places in the city. Then they celebrate Baba's Tilakotsav on the day of Vasant Panchami by doing puja, traditional bhajans and kirtans.
People attending Baba's Tilakotsav play Abir-Gulal, share happiness among themselves and congratulate each other. According to the priest of the temple, the tradition of offering Tilak to Devadhidev Mahadev is ancient. According to the belief, this tradition was started by sages. According to this tradition, on the day of Vasant Panchami, people of Mithilanchal offer Tilak to Baba.
It is said that when they come from Bihar, the people of Deoghar become alert. Because, these people do not bring anything from their home except dowry items. They manage everything from here to food, shelter, utensils, firewood etc. They don't ask from anyone, they just take it. Because, they think that they have come to their brother-in-law's house. All the belongings, trees, plants, roads, water etc. belong to the brother-in-law. Therefore, why did they need to take permission from any person to use those goods, they took whatever goods they could get their hands on.
He cut trees to light the stove, defecated wherever he felt like, slept or sat anywhere. Nobody says anything. Not only the residents of Deoghar, the police administration also knows that these people come to their brother-in-law's house every year to offer dowry. No one stops them anywhere. Just like Hurmut, when he walks on the road carrying a big heavy Kanwar, people move away from the road out of fear. When they are passing through the crowd, people get shocked.
They offer Bhang, Dhatura, Bhasma, Sindoor etc. as dowry to Bholenath. During this period, their attire is saffron in color like the month of Sawan. They start returning to Mithilanchal from the second day of Vasant Panchami. When they come to Deoghar in the spring month, a sight like Sawan is seen and an enthusiastic atmosphere is seen.
District administration on the front since morning
On the occasion of Basant Panchami, DC Vishal Sagar inspected the Baba Temple and surrounding areas early in the morning to provide all possible facilities and security arrangements to the devotees. Took stock of crowd management, law and order and security arrangements. Apart from continuously cleaning the temple premises and surrounding areas, he inspected the arrangement of spiral, barricading, deputation of magistrates and security personnel for the convenience of the devotees and gave necessary and appropriate directions to the concerned officials.
DC also directed to remove the Kanwad left in the temple premises and surrounding areas, so that the devotees do not face any inconvenience while walking. Also, while inspecting the temple premises, he instructed the officials to provide water to the devotees in queues in addition to providing all possible necessary facilities.