Devotees throng Tripureswari temple, CM announces 50

Thousands of devotees from across Tripura and neighbouring Assam thronged the Tripureswari temple in Gomati district, about 60 km from here, to participate in the grand 'Diwali Mela' on Tuesday.

Tripurasundari temple is one of the 51 "Shaktipiths" in the country and a huge mela is organized on the day of Diwali by the temple committee every year, where more than two lakh devotees gather.

Inaugurating the Diwali Mela, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said replicas of the 50 other "Shaktipiths" would be built in the Tripureswari temple to make it a major pilgrimage tourist spot of the country.

"If any pilgrim wants to visit 51 shaktipiths at a time, he or she would come here," he said.

The North East Frontier railway has introduced seven Mela special trains for the fair which would be inaugurated by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in the evening.

Six Mela special trains from Agartala and one train from Dharmanagar, bordering Assam in North Tripura district to Udaipur in Gomati district were introduced this morning. Besides, all regular trains from Silchar in Assam and Dharmanagar would ply as usual," Agartala Station Master, Amit Kumar said.

In April this year, Tripuraasundari Trust was formed and Chief Minister Biplab Deb became its Chairman while District Magistrate of Gomati was appointed its Secretary.

"The trust has taken several initiatives to decorate the mela premises with magnificent lighting and perform three-day Yajna from tomorrow to invoke the blessings of the goddess," Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, Sanjoy Mishra said.

He added the event will be a grand one that would restore the religious and cultural identity of Tripura.

Tripura Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy, who hails from Udaipur town said, The trust has taken initiative to organize Ganga Aarti similar to Haridwar and the devotees, who would conduct the puja, have already arrived in the state. The 'Aarti' would be organized in the evening after chief minister inaugurates the Mela.

When contacted, Additional IG (Law and Order), Smriti Ranjan Das said adequate security arrangements have been made in the temple premises.

State and central paramilitary forces have been deployed, CCTV cameras installed to keep a close vigil and intelligence surveillance have been augmented to avert any mishaps, Das said.