• Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura

Agartala, November 5, 2021 : After a span of almost one and half years, when the humankind have suffered the worst-hit of COVID-19 pandemic, immense crowd have been witnessed during festivities.

On the auspicious occasion of ‘Diwali’ the renowned temple of Mata Tripureshwari have also witnessed massive crowd, since the evening of Thursday last till Friday afternoon, thereby breaking all records of previous years.

Last year, Diwali was celebrated along the premises of this temple, confining the rituals, without organizing any fair. But this year, Diwali festivities was organized in a grandeur manner, after the global pandemic subsided within the past few months.

Mata Tripureshwari Temple is located at Udaipur in Gomati district, Tripura which is about 55 kms away from the state capital Agartala. Every year, nearly 2 lakh devotees visit this holy pilgrimage, considered as one of the 51 ‘Shakti Peeths’ across the nation.

But this year, Gomati district administration sources claimed that number of devotees crossed more than 2.5 lakh. This unanticipated crowd occurred due to ease of COVID-19 norms, and special trains routing from Dharmanagar, Agartala and Sabroom to Udaipur.

According to commitments forwarded by Prime Minister, the state government of Tripura is tirelessly working to improve the communication system, named the HIRA model (Highway, Internet, Railway, Airways).

It is also trying to implement all the centrally-sponsored schemes in an efficient manner, thereby connecting people across the globe, through communication systems and development in tourism sector.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb inaugurated the two-day-long Diwali festival here at the premises of Mata Tripureshwari Temple in Udaipur.

He also performed the ‘Mangal Aarati’ at Kalyan Sagar lake within the temple premises on Thursday evening.

BJP state president Prof Dr Manik Saha, Tourism minister Pranajit Singha Roy, Fire minister Ram Prasad Paul, SW&SE minister Santana Chakma and MLAs Rampada Jamatia and Biplab Kumar Ghosh along with other leaders and officials accompanied Deb.

Meanwhile, the Information and Cultural Affairs department have undertaken an initiative to organize a 30-hrs long cultural programme at the premises of Mata Tripureshwari Temple on the auspicious occasion of Diwali this year. It aims to promote the rich cultural heritage of Tripura.