Thousands throng temples in UP on first day of Navratri

Devotees stand in a line to offer milk as they pay obeisance at a historical temple on the first day of the nine-day long Navratri festival

Lucknow: Thousands of devotees thronged the temples across Uttar Pradesh on the first day of the 'Shardeya Navratri' on Thursday.

Heavy security arrangements have been made at all the "Shakti Peeths" and important temples.

The devotees were seen standing in long, serpentine queues outside the temples at many places since early morning. A massive crowd has been reported from Vindhyachal where the fabled Vidhyavasini temple draws lakhs of devotees, including many VVIPs, industrialists, politicians and bureaucrats, during the festival.

Thousands also paid obeisance at the famous "Shakti Peeth" of Aadravanvasini Lehda Devi in Maharajganj district. Similar celebrations and festivities have been reported from Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Bijnore, Unnao, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Etawah besides other places.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who used to restrict himself to one room during the nine days and remained on fast at the "Gorakhshnath Peeth", has this time been forced to change his routine due to the post he holds, informed a close aide.

Adityanath will fly to Gorakhpur later in the day and be there till Friday before returning to work in Lucknow.

He will do the "kalash sthapna" at the temple but will perform rituals at his official 5, Kalidas Marg residence in the state capital.

Adityanath will go to Gorakhpur again on the last day of the festival. He has already ordered the state bureaucracy, power department officials, doctors, police and traffic departments to ensure the devotees face no problems during the festival.

All "Shakti Peeths" in the state will have 24x7 power supply. Medical camps have also been set up near various temples.

The Chief Minister has also asked the police to ensure that there was no untoward incident during the festival.