Ten-Day Pran Pratishtha Mahotsav Underway at Newly Built Hathras Temple

A grand ten-day Pran Pratishtha Mahotsav is being held at the newly constructed Siddhapeeth Maa Katyayani Navdurga Temple in Banke Bihari Enclave at Jogia, located on the Aligarh-Agra Bypass in Hathras. The consecration of the idols representing the nine forms of Maa Bhagwati will be performed through Vedic rituals on 16 October. A grand procession with bands and attractive religious tableaux will also be taken out through the city on the occasion.

The temple premises have been hosting religious rituals, havan-yajna and recitations every day since the beginning of Navratri. In the evening, bhajan and kirtan programmes have been creating a devotional atmosphere at the temple as part of the ongoing festival.

Office-bearers of the Maa Katyayani Seva Samiti said during a press conference that the religious rituals for the Pran Pratishtha will begin at 8 am on Friday, 16 October. Various Vedic ceremonies, including annadhivas, ghritadhivas and jaladhivas, will be conducted during the programme.

Thakur Jaiveer Singh, Tourism and Culture Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, will attend the programme. He will perform puja-archana of Maa Katyayani and participate in the aarti. Govind, Vibhag Pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Harigarh department, and Sadar MLA Anjula Singh Mahaur will also be present as special guests.

The grand procession will be taken out under the guidance of Param Pujya Mahamandaleshwar Rudradevanand Ji Maharaj. It will begin at 7:30 am from the newly constructed Maa Katyayani Temple and pass through the major markets of the city before returning to the temple premises.

The procession will feature bands and several attractive religious tableaux. Saints and religious figures will take part in it, along with a large number of women and men devotees, who are expected to join the procession.

The main religious programme of the festival will be held on Tuesday, 20 October. On that day, devotees will be able to have darshan of the grand maha-aarti, phool-bangla and chhappan bhog at the temple premises. A large bhandara and mahaprasadi programme will also be organised.

Param Pujya Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara of Paramshaktipith, Shridham Vrindavan, will arrive as the chief guest for the programme. Nabha Peethadhishwar Jagadguru Param Pujya Shri Sutikshna Das Devacharya Maharaj of Sudamakuti, Shridham Vrindavan, will also attend the event.

The programme will also receive the special presence of Dharmendra, Braj Prant Pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The arrival of Sadhvi Ritambhara and Dharmendra, along with several saints and religious figures, is expected to be an important part of the festival arrangements.

Committee office-bearers said that preparations for the Pran Pratishtha Mahotsav have been completed. Devendra Singh Tomar, the temple’s Charan Sevak, appealed to all dharm-premi devotees to participate in the festival.

He urged devotees: “श्रद्धालु यज्ञ की परिक्रमा कर पुण्य लाभ प्राप्त करें और माँ कात्यायनी का आशीर्वाद लेकर अपने जीवन को धन्य बनाएं।”

The appeal was made in connection with the religious ceremonies, the procession and the programmes scheduled at the temple. Devotees have been asked to take part in the yajna parikrama and seek the blessings of Maa Katyayani during the festival.

Devendra Singh Tomar, Charan Sevak of the temple, Mahamandaleshwar Rudradevanand Ji Maharaj, Tinku Rana, Sah Nagar Karyavah of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and Ashish Sengar, media in-charge of the Pran Pratishtha Mahotsav, were present at the press conference.