Weeklong international shivratri fair is set to begin today in Mandi, over 200 deities will take part in the event.
Shimla:
The weeklong international shivratri fair is set to begin in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh today, in which over 200 deities will take part in the event. For the last two days, deities from far flung areas of Mandi district have started to congregate in Mandi town to join this event.
On the very first day of this event today, a Shobha Yatra of deities will be taken out from the temple of Madho Rai deity to Padal ground in Mandi, in which hundreds of deities will take part along with their followers in thousands. It will be a major attraction for the visitors here to have glimpse of deity culture. They will be able to meet deities in such a large number at one place. The Shobha Yatra will be attended by the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, who will officially inaugurate this event here today.
Mandi town is echoing with the sounds of musical instruments of deities for the last two days. District administration and Sarv Devta Seva Samiti were welcoming the deities on their arrival in Mandi town. Deputy Commissioner Mandi Apoorav Devgan and president of Sarv Devta Seva Samiti Shivpal Sharma were honouring the deities in the premises of Madho Rai deity as per traditional rituals prevalent since centuries.
Second Shobha Yatra will be held on March 12 and last Shobha Yatra of this event will be held on March 15. Governor of state Shiv Pratap Shukla will be the chief guest of concluding ceremony of this event.
Apart from deity culture, night cultural programs will be the added attraction of this event. Hansraj Raghuvanshi and Kumar Sahil are the main attractions in the first cultural evening. In the second evening, Mamta Bhardwaj, Laman Band and Ishant Bhardwaj, in the third, Sunil Rana, Arin and Arshpreet and Akhtar Brothers, in the fourth evening, Saregamapa Little Champ fame Payal Thakur, Geeta Bhardwaj and Shilpa Saroch, in the fifth cultural evening, A.C. Bhardwaj, Jassi Gill and Babbal Rai and the last evening will be in the name of Anuj Sharma and Police Band Harmony and Pines.
Around 900 police and home guard jawans have been deployed in Mandi town and it’s outskirts to maintain law and order situation during the fair. Apart from this, police will take strict vigil on offenders with the help of CCTV cameras, which have been installed at key location in Mandi city for the purpose.
