It’s an unusual Shravan this year.

Despite it being a Monday that is considered most auspicious for offering puja to Lord Shiva, people did not wake up early after hearing loud chanting of Bol Bom by kanwariyas (devotees carrying water pots hung from a pole known as kanwaar).

The roads leading to temples also did not reverberate with devotional songs from loudspeakers and no shops opened for selling puja materials.

Following the Jharkhand High Court orders staying the historical month-long Shravani Mela, the temple town of Deoghar has been made out of bounds for outsiders and no devotees allowed inside the temple complex.

“It wears a deserted look,” a reporter of a national agency said over the phone from Deoghar, adding anyone who had been to Deoghar during Shravan before won’t believe it unless seen personally.

No one except a select group of priests entrusted with performing the rituals are allowed inside the temple complex, he further said.

The district administration has barricaded strategic points to prevent any gathering.

Even bathing at Shivganga, a well-known lake, has been barred and barricades put around it for the purpose.

The entry point at Dumma on Bihar-Jharkhand border has also been sealed so that no one can enter Deoghar after collecting water from the Ganga at Sultanpur in neighbouring Bhagalpur district of Bihar.

Despite such restrictions, a group of devotees from Bihar tried to approach the border on Sunday but they had to go back.

Complying with the orders of the high court, the administration has organised live streaming of the rituals inside the Deoghar temple for facilitating virtual darshan for the devotees.

The devotees can have such a virtual darshan on Jhargov.tv and the Facebook page of the deputy commissioner, besides Doordarshan.

“I go there every year but can’t do anything this time,” said Pawan Yadav of Ranchi who ritualistically collects Gangajal at Sultanpur and walks around 100 km to offer the same to Lord Shiva at the Deoghar temple, adding he worshipped the Lord at home this year.

He had no alternative as even Pahari Mandir atop Ranchi Hill that attracts hundreds of devotees every Monday during Shravan has also been closed according to the decision of the Jharkhand government that prevented opening of all religious places till July 31.

The temple administration has also arranged live streaming of the rituals here that can be seen both in morning and evening on the website and Facebook page of the temple.