Mulund Celebrates Navratri with Dhoom and Masti
Navratri, the 9-day Hindu festival started on Sunday, 29, September with the customary Kalash Sthapana. Huge pandals glittering with dazzling lights and boisterous sound marked the celebration of Navratri across the country. In Mulund, too, people welcomed the festival with traditional fervour and enthusiasm. Devotees stood in long queues to attend the aartis at temples while the youth, draped in multi-coloured traditional Gujarati attire, were seen dancing to Garba and dandiya beats.
In Mulund, the police have permitted 66 Mandals, out of these BMC has permitted 45 Mandals to erect pandals while the rest 21 Mandals have been allowed to use loudspeakers while playing Garba. Mulund, being densely inhabited by the Gujarati community, celebrates Navratri with much gusto. The 10 days are packed with Dhoom and Masti! In Mulund, the excitement for the Navratri celebration is so passionate that enthusiasts from the age of 8 years to 80 years can be seen playing Garba and dancing to the beats of dandiya! Many housing societies organise Garba and the societies’ senior citizens also take part with equal zeal as the young and the children.
With the Maharashtra Assembly election around the corner, the enthusiasm of the Navratri festival has been a little affected as generally political leaders use the festival to woo the public and win vote banks. However, due to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), all the Navratri Mandals have been strictly prohibited from displaying banners, posters or cut-outs of any political party or political leader. Nevertheless, political leaders are seen taking darshan of Mata Durga at the various Navratri pandals across the country.
It may be noted Sharad Navratri, the tenth day of the festival, is celebrated as Dussehra or Vijayadashami. The occasion is believed to mark Goddess Durga’s victory over the demon, Mahishasura, which signifies the victory of good over evil. The festival is popularly and prominently celebrated in Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka.
800 girls perform Aarti at Ambaji Dham
Ambaji Dham in Mulund is one of the most auspicious temples of Mulund where the annual Navratri festival is being celebrated with conventional devotion for the past several decades. This year, on the third day of Navratri, 800 girls performed aarti of Durga Mata at Ambaji Dham
