Devotees throng Tripureswari temple on Diwali

Thousands of devotees thronged the Tripureswari temple in Tripura's Gomati district as Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Sunday inaugurated the 'Diwali fair and festival' at the holy place.

People from various places of the state and neighbouring Assam gathered at the temple premises to participate in the three-day grand fair which is being organised every year on the occasion of Diwali.

Though the temple is one of the 51 "Shaktipiths" in the country, the holy place is not familiar to other parts of India and the state government plans to make it an attractive destination for tourists, Deb said after inaugurating the fair.

"It would be our endeavour to make the temple familiar to other parts of the country and make it a famous tourist destination. We have decided to spend Rs one crore to develop it as a tourist spot", he said.

Among others, state transport and tourism minister Pranajit Singharoy, revenue minister N C Debbarma and Deb's wife, Niti were present on the occasion.

'Mela' Committee Chairman and local BJP MLA Biplab Ghosh said every year more than four lakh people participate in the fair and the turnout this year will exceed previous records.

The North East Frontier railway has introduced six 'Mela' special trains for three days from Udaipur to Dharmanagar in north Tripura district, bordering Assam and five trains from Udaipur to Sabroom in the southern part of the state, an official said.

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

He said the fair is a gala event symbolising the religious and cultural identity of Tripura.

Artists across the state will take part in various cultural programmes to be held in the fair.

State and central paramilitary forces have been deployed in the temple premises to avoid any untoward incidents, Assistant IG (Law and Order), Subrata Chakraborty said.

In addition, CCTV cameras were installed to keep a close vigil and intelligence surveillance have been augmented to avert any mishap, he added.