42 CCTV cameras to watch over Matsyodari Devi's Navratri fair; shade and water mist for queues in the heat

Ambad: The Sharadiya Navratri festival of the goddess Shri Matsyodari Devi at Ambad begins with ghatasthapana on Sunday, October 11. The fair will run until Vijayadashami on October 20, with the main day on October 17, the seventh day, when fireworks will follow the evening aarti as tradition demands. A darshan fair will also be held on Kojagiri Purnima on October 25.

Government departments met at the temple hall on Saturday, October 10, to review preparations. Temple trust president and tahsildar Somesh Mohite, police inspector Santosh Ghodke and power distribution company city engineer Laxman Punde were among those present. Forty-two CCTV cameras will monitor the fair in the temple area.

With the heat rising this year, shade has been put up over the darshan queues and the steps leading to the temple, and fine water mist will be sprayed in the afternoons. Two police outposts, mobile squads and plain-clothes and women police will be deployed. Extra police have been called in from the district along with a State Reserve Police Force unit, and 13 police officers are on duty. Seventy National Service Scheme students from the ITI at Ambad will help manage the queues.

Legend has it that the goddess gets her name because the hill is shaped like a fish (matsya) and the sanctum sits where its belly (udar) would be. Devotees traditionally stay in the temple premises for the nine days of Navratri, fasting, and every year 800 to 1,000 do so. The temple has been decorated with automated lighting, and paid parking, a municipal cleaning squad and a power company team have been arranged.

Sources: Pudhari; Pudhari