Lakhs of devotees attend Jyotirling Fair

Kolhapur, Apr 2 (UNI) 'Chaitra Poornima', the annual fair of lord Jyotirling at Wadi-Ratnagiri in the district, was today attended by about four lakh devotees from Maharashtra, Karnataka and other states.

Chants of ''Jyotibachya Navana Changbhala'' rent the air as devotees thronged the pilgrim town in western Maharashtra. People had assembled here since last few days to attend the fair by S T buses, trucks, tempos, private vehicles and the traditional bullock-cart.

Earlier, in the morning 'pooja' of lord Jyotiba was performed followed by ''abhishek'' between 0500 hrs to 0600 hrs by Pune District Collector Mr Deshmukh, Panhala tehsildar, western Maharashtra Devastan Management Committee Chairman and its members.

In the afternoon, a procession of the ''sasan kathis'' (bamboo poles), decorated with coloured clothes, was taken out from the Jyotirling temple. The procession was flagged-off by Kolhapur District Guardian Minister Harshwardhan Patil.

Elaborate police arrangements were made for the fair. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) had made special arrangements to ferry devotees.

''Sahaj Seva Trust'' a local organisation, made arrangement of ''Mahaprasad'' (food distribution) to the gathered devotees near the temple.

UNI