PIX: Makarsankranti dip at Gangasagar in evening hours after 65 yrs

After a gap of 65 years, the pious Makarsankranti dip at Gangasagar, the second largest after Kumbh Mela, will again take place during the evening hours on Tuesday, the Chief Priest of the KapilmuniTemple said.

The holy dip will take place dot at 7:04 pm on Tuesday instead of the usual morning hours, an uncommon occurrence, Gyandas Mohant, Chief Priest of the KapilmuniTemple told media.

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The dip, coinciding with the transition of the Sun into Makara Rashi (Capricorn) on its celestial path, took place around the same time 65 years back, the priest said.

Meanwhile around three lakh Hindu devotees already appeared at Sagar islands, the confluence of Ganga and sea, to take the dip from different parts of the country, official sources said.

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One person, a devotee from Haryana, died of heart attack, the sources said.

West Bengal PHE Minister Subrata Mukherjee and Power Minister Manish Gupta were overseeing arrangements.

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South 24 Parganas District Magistrate Santanu Basu said 6000 police personnel were deployed for providing security while 100 NGOs have pitched their tents at the sprawling fair ground.

Puri Seer Swami Nischalananda Saraswati at a press meet flayed the state governments for doing little to stop pollution of Ganga.

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