‘Shiv Jyoti Arpanam’ festival will be organised on the
holy festival of Mahashivratri in Ujjain, the city of Lord Shri Mahakaleshwar. In this, on the banks of the Punya
Salila Maa Kshipra, lamps will be lit from house to house in places of worship, temples and city. A target has been set to light 21 lakh earthen lamps on this auspicious occasion.
On Mahashivratri, Ujjain city, which houses famous
Mahakaleshhwar temple, the abode of Lord Shiva, will be lit up with 21 lakh diyas (earthen lamps).
The city will be illuminated at 7 p.m. on Mahashivratri, which is falling on March 1 this year. All the diyas will be lit for about an hour. For this, training is also
being given to the volunteers.
Giving this information, Higher Education Minister
Mohan Yadav said that this programme is being organised on the call of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. There will be participation of all sections of the society in this. 13 lakh earthen lamps will be lit on both sides on the banks of river Kshipra. Apart
from this, lamps will be lit at city’s places of worship Mahakal Temple, Mangalnath Temple, Kaal Bhairav Temple, Garh Kalika Temple, Siddhavat Temple, Harsiddhi Temple and major public places in the city. The citizens of the city will also light 5 lamps each at their homes.
Pledge letters have also been filled by the citizens through Ujjain Municipal Corporation. Yadav informed that people have been connected with Shiv Jyoti Arpanam Mahotsav through a massive outreach campaign.
More than 17 thousand volun- teers have registered. These include representatives of various voluntary organisations, students, sportsmen, professionals
and social organisations, representatives of religious institutions, saints of all akhadas etc.
Blocks and sectors were made for lamp lighting arrangements at Ramghat, the main venue. Volunteers have been appointed in each sector. There will also be
a supervisors with them.
The Ujjain district administration is gearing up to script history by illuminating 21 lakh earthen lamps from Mata Mandir Ghat of the Shipra River to Ramghat.
The administration is planning to get the name of the city registered in the Guinness Book of World Records and Limca Book of Records.
As per the Ujjain district administration, three lakh earthen lamps will be installed at different places, houses and establishments. It will take 12,000 vol-
unteers to light up the diyas. For this, the responsibility has been given to the District Panchayat, Education Department, Municipal Corporation and Smart City.
Ujjain District Collector Ashish Singh said that initially the plans were for illuminating 15 lakh diyas but considering the people’s enthusiasm, the number
was increased to 21 lakh.
Singh claimed that a rehearsal was done by putting 1,000 diyas on the banks of Shipra river. ” A person can light about a 100 diyas. Twelve lakh diyas will be lit
at different ghats, 51,000 in Mahakal temple, one lakh at Freeganj tower, other temples including Mangalnath,
Chintaman, Kalbhairav, Bhukhi Mata, Harsiddhi temple,” Singh said.
In the Shiv Jyoti Arpanam Festival, the programme has
been designed by targeting ‘Zero Waste’. Identity cards of volunteers will be recycled through QR App. After the festival, the lamps will be used for home composting, making pots, kulhads (earthen vessels) etc.
The oil remaining after the programme will be used
in Gaushalas etc. Empty oil bottles will be reused through the 3-R process. Paper matchboxes will
be used to light the candles. Only biodegradable cutlery plates will be used for food and drink. All the components of the event are being decided as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry (Zero Waste Programme Standard Operating Procedure SOP).
