Mamata to initiate Ganga Aarti at Baje Kadamtala Ghat today
As many as 11 temporary platforms have been set up where priests will stand & perform the rituals
The people of Bengal will no longer need to travel to Varanasi to behold the breathtaking Ganga Aarti. The stage is set for a similar initiative in Kolkata with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slated to mark the beginning of Ganga Aarti at Baje Kadamtala Ghat on Thursday late afternoon.
As many as 11 temporary platforms have been set up where priests will stand and perform the rituals. There will be seating arrangements for some of the onlookers on the slope leading to the ghat while the rest will have to stand and witness the same. Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim along with senior officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) visited the area on Wednesday to oversee the arrangements.
“The Ganga Aarti will be performed daily except on the days of earmarked immersion during Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Lakshmi Puja and other festivals. So, the platforms that have been set up for the priests are temporary ones,” Hakim said.
Baje Kadamtala Ghat hosts the highest number of Durga Puja immersions in Kolkata.
The KMC has taken measures for ensuring cleanliness of the ghats on a daily basis and lighting arrangements have also been augmented for better illumination. The Kolkata Police also inspected the site on Wednesday for security measures ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit.
According to KMC sources, the Chief Minister will also unveil a statue of Devi Makar in a shrine that has been built at the site.
Banerjee had expressed her desire for hosting Ganga Aarti in November last year and had accordingly instructed KMC to identify one of the ghats in the city that can suitably host the event. In January, while visiting the ground near Babughat where transit camps for Gangasagar pilgrims were set up, Banerjee had asked the KMC to start preparations for readying Baje Kadamtala Ghat from the date of birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on January 12.
The demo of Ganga Aarti has been performed at the ghat for a week at a stretch to ensure that things go as per plan. There are future plans of hosting a laser show for further entertainment of people coming to behold the spectacle.
“It will be a unique extravaganza, one of its kind,” Hakim said.
