Only 45,000 pay obeisance at Mansa Devi temple as Navratra fair begins

Tribune News Service

Ony 45,000 people turned up to pay obeisance at the Mata Mansa Devi temple as the 10-day Navratras began on Saturday. While the shrine board was expecting a turn-out of 80,000, Chief Executive Officer VG Goyal said the numbers were expected to touch 1.50 lakh on Sunday.

A total of Rs 10.29 lakh was donated on the first day along with 37 ‘nagh’ silver while no gold was donated. 60 Canadian dollars and five American dollars were donated and one of the devotees donated seven gold plated ‘shastars’ for the goddess, including swords and other arms. As many as 25,000 devotees visited the Kalka mandir where Rs 4.65 lakh was donated.

Most visitors were happy with the arrangements and decoration this time. Sahil from Patiala said, “Arrangements and decoration are better but the number of people is visibly less than last year.” Around six lakh has been spent on flowers this time, which have been bought from different parts of the country.

The mela was inaugurated by Haryana Governer Kaptan Singh Solanki, who prayed for the happiness and peace in the nation and praised India’s surgical strikes in PoK.