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Record footfall at temple as Kashi gives new year a spiritual start
Sunil Verma, the temple’s chief executive officer, said till 6 pm around 6 lakh devotees had visited the temple on Sunday.
As was expected, the people of Varanasi preferred to give a spiritual start to 2023. On the first day of the year, the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple witnessed a beeline of devotees in such great numbers that, the officials of Kashi Vishwanath Dham management said, was never witnessed before.
Breaking all records, over 6 lakh devotees visited the temple on Sunday as compared to around 5 lakh on the previous New Year’s Day, they added. Sankat Mochan, another famous temple in the city, also saw a massive crowd.
“Nothing can be better than starting the first day of the year with a visit to Baba’s darbar (Kashi Vishwanath temple). I visited the temple along with my family to seek the blessings of the almighty,” said Sudhakar Mishra, a government employee.
Unlike other days, devotees started thronging the temple in the wee hours. Anticipating heavy crowds, the temple management had restricted special ‘sparsh darshan’ in which devotees are allowed to touch the Shivling. Only ‘jhaki darshan’ was allowed.
“On the first day, only jhaki darshan was allowed in order to better handle the crowd,” said Kaushal Raj Sharma, divisional commissioner, Varanasi. He added the restrictions would continue even on Monday.
Sunil Verma, the temple’s chief executive officer, said till 6 pm around 6 lakh devotees had visited the temple on Sunday.
As the day progressed, even ghats started getting crowded as people thronged there with their families. “Ghats are the best place for an outing. One can spend quality time here with their friends and family members,” said Sudhanshu Bharadwaj, a local. Despite the cold, people were seen enjoying the weather as they welcomed the new year in their own ‘Banarasi way’.
