Around five lakh devotees today took the holy dip at Gangasagar with most of them choosing to do it at 7.04 pm, an auspicious moment when the transition of the Sun into Makara Rashi (capricorn) on its celestial path happened after a gap of 65 years.
Gyandas Mohant, Chief Priest of the Kapilmuni Temple had said after a gap of 65 years, the pious Makarsankranti dip at Gangasagar, the second largest after Kumbh Mela, was happening during the evening hours.
"Around five lakh devotees took the holy dip today. Around 10 lakh devotees have come to the Sagar Islands since January 10, the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal, to take the dip and the state government has made adequate arrangements for them," said West Bengal PHE minister Subrata Mukherjee, who along with state Power minister Manish Gupta, are overseeing the arrangements.
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"The Amrit Yog (auspicious period) will start at 7.04 pm and will continue till tomorrow, and we are expecting more people to arrive for the holy dip.
"Four barges and other vessels have been pressed into service to carry the devotees to Kakdwip and the process will continue all through the night. Adequate arrangement of buses has also been done," Mukherjee said.
South 24 Parganas district authorities said two women in their sixties, Lakshmi Pramanik from Noapra and Kamala Sau from Odisha, died of cardiac failure during the day.
"No untoward incident has been reported so far except a case of pick-pocketing where Rs 1.50 lakh was stolen from a person heading a group of 130 people from Chhattisgarh," district police sources said.
The Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and district police are patrolling the seas, river channels and fair ground to ensure smooth passage of the annual event.
