LUCKNOW: With devotees thronging to all deckedup temples to offer prayers to Goddess Durga and her nine forms, the nineday Navratri celebrations began in the city on Thursday.
At the Chandrika Devi templ, aarti was performed in the presence of temple authorities.
Barricades were put up inside the premises to avoid overcrowding. While devotees started queuing up with flowers and other offerings early in the morning, they were not allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
“The rituals are being performed in the morning as well as evening. While we kept advising the public to wear masks and maintain adequate distancing, the excitement of visiting the temple after a gap of a year, was very much visible on the faces of the devotees,” said Akhilesh Singh, president, Ma Chandrika Devi Mela Vikas Samiti.
Santoshi Mata temple in Chowk also reverberated with temple bells.
Since morning devotees queued up at Badi Kali Ji Mandir in Chowk and Ghasiyari Mandi's Kali Bari temple too to offer prayers.
At Mankameshwar Temple, customary rituals were performed by the head priest Mahant Divyagiri. At Hanuman Setu Temple, priests also followed Covid-19 protocols, covering their faces with masks and maintaining social distance to combat the virus.
At homes, families performed the customary ritual of 'kalash sthapna' and 'hawan', to mark the first day of the nineday festival.
