Navratri begins at Amravati's Ambadevi and Ekvira Devi temples; crowds on day one

Amravati: Sharadiya Navratri at the Shri Ambadevi and Shri Ekvira Devi temples, revered across Vidarbha, began on Sunday, October 11. With the first day falling on a Sunday, devotees thronged the temples from the morning. The nine-day festival will include ghatasthapana, flag hoisting, abhishek, discourses, bhajans, kirtans, recitation of the Saptashati, a Navchandi yagna and mahaprasad.

At the Shri Ambadevi temple, a sahasradhara mahabhishek was performed at 4.30 am, after which trust secretary Ravindra Karve and his wife performed the ghatasthapana, and Dr Jayant Pandharikar hoisted the flag at 8.30 am. A special attraction is the trust's discourse series, which has run without a break for 45 years; this year Sachin Dev Maharaj will speak every morning from 8.30 to 10 between October 11 and 19.

Special arrangements have also been made at other major goddess temples in the district, and the Shri Ambika Devi temple will mark this year's festival with a display of 1,500 lamps.

Sources: Hindusthan Samachar; Hindusthan Samachar