336-year-old tradition broken at Biswanath Ghat temple due to ongoing lockdown

Assam Art and Culture

The temple, better known as ‘Gupta Kashi’ is situated on the bank of the river Brahmaputra in Biswanath district and around 15 kilometres away from Biswanath Chariali town towards the south of the NH-15.
The tradition is that the idol of Lord Shiva is carried to a nearby village, Bhirgaon on a dola covering a distance of five kilometres and is worshipped in a temple there for the day.
It is returned to the original site in the evening. People offer pooja-archana to the deity along the road.
According to information, the tradition was started by Ahom king Gadadhar Singha in 1684 and since then it has been carried out every year without any break.
But this time, the authorities in the temple decided to move the deity around the temple for three times only and thus concluded the programme adhering to social distancing and other norms strictly.