Braving rains, crowds of devotees from across the region thronged temples in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday on the first day of the nine-day-long Shardiya Navratri, one of the largest auspicious Hindu festivals dedicated to Maa Durga and her nine manifestations.
The popular temples of Naina Devi in Bilaspur; Chintpurni in Una; Baba Balak Nath in Hamirpur; Brajeshwari Devi, Jwalaji and Chamunda Devi in Kangra; and Bhimakali and Hateshwari in Shimla district were tastefully decorated and witnessed huge rush to seek the blessings of the Goddess.
A majority of the pilgrims came from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.
"We are expecting over 20, 000-25, 000 devotees at the temple daily, " an official at the hilltop Naina Devi shrine told IANS over phone.
Devotees would be able to watch online live "darshan" of Brajeshwari Devi, Naina Devi, Chintpurni and Jwalaji temples. They would also be able to offer online offerings.
Security has been beefed up to manage the crowd in all the prominent shrines, a senior police official told IANS.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu extended warm greetings and best wishes to the people on the occasion.
In a message, the Chief Minister said, "May this holy festival bring happiness, prosperity and new enthusiasm in everyone's life and may the Goddess give strength to the people to overcome the aftermath of the catastrophe that hit the state during the monsoon."
The festival, which marks keeping fast, offering puja to the goddess and observing rituals, will conclude on October 24 with Dussehra.