Rishikesh, Nov 13 : The Ganga Seva Samiti organised a unique Deep Dan festival on November 12 in Rishikesh of Uttrakhand.

It was organised on the eve of Baikuntha Chaturdashi, a sacred day before Kartika Purnima.

The pilgrimage city witnessed such a festival for the first time.

The venue was the Triveni Ghat, the popular Ghat of the town. Hordes of people participated in the event and offered homemade flour-lamps to the sacred river.

Devotees praised the efforts of the organisation.

Kavita Saha, a local resident feels that these events will create a mass awareness about the Ganges.

“The Ganga Seva Samiti has done the marvelous job by organizing this festival on the eve of Baikuntha Chaturdashi. This huge gathering itself explains the importance of this holy river. These programmes will also create awareness regarding the cleaning of the river,” she said.

People were excited about this exclusive event.

Shashi Aggarwal, a devotee from Dehradun was excited on being the part of this unique festival.

“I have also offered the lamp in the river. Everything here is exciting, the event, the rangoli is marvelous, and I really enjoyed the event,” said Aggarwal.

Kartik Poornima is celebrated on the full moon day of the Shukla Paksha of the month, Kartik.

Ganga, the 1557 miles long river, occupies religious significance among the Hindus in India. Hindus worship it as a Devi goddess and its description is mentioned in the Rig-Veda, the sacred scripture of Hinduism.

Recently the Government of India declared the Ganges as a National River. (ANI)