Latur temple cancels Navratri cultural programmes, will give ₹1.11 lakh to drought fund

Latur: Temples and public mandals across the city are busy preparing for Sharadiya Navratri, which begins on Sunday, October 11, the first day of the bright half of Ashwin. With the district in the grip of drought this year, some temple trusts have decided to keep the celebrations simple.

The Jay Ambika temple in the Gandhi Market area usually holds religious and cultural events during Navratri. This year, in view of the drought, the water shortage and the crisis facing farmers, the trust has decided not to hold the cultural programmes. The ₹1,11,111 they would have cost will be handed to the state government as a drought fund, and cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil has been invited to receive it, trust president Amar Kokate said. Ghatasthapana at the temple will be performed at 11.33 am on Sunday by entrepreneur Pravin Brijwasi.

At the Shri Jay Jagdamba temple in Ganjgolai, the festival idol will be taken out in a procession with traditional instruments on Sunday afternoon and carried five times around Ganjgolai before trust president Shivshankar Bidwe performs the ghatasthapana. At the Shri Kalika Devi temple on the old Ausa road, trust president Deepak Dixit will perform it after a panchamrut abhishek in the morning.

Temples are being painted and decorated with flowers and lights, and pandals and temple replicas are going up. Markets are busy too, with shoppers buying fruit, bangles, puja cloth, baskets and black soil for the ritual.

Source: Esakal