Monsoon festival observed by devotees in India

Indore/Amritsar, July 21 (ANI): Devout across India have been observing the ongoing festival of monsoon, referred as the Shraavan month as per Hindu almanac with much enthusiasm.

In particular, the Shraavan Somavaar (Monday in the month of Shraavan) has a great significance and dedicated to Lord Shiva, one of the divine trinity entities in Hindu faith.

Indore city witnessed a long procession of thousands of women pilgrims and other devotees, carrying water on their heads and which they offered to Lord Shiva.omen chanted prayers and transformed the city into an ocean of saffron as they passed through the thoroughfares.

Earlier, at the famous Durgiana Temple in Amritsar, newly married couples, dressed in traditional attires and flower ornaments, gathered and prayed seeking divine blessings.

The newly married couples queued up at this temple also called the Lakshminarayan Temple.lthough the Durgiana Temple is of Goddess Durga, a major portion of the temple is dedicated to Hindu deities Lakshmi.

"I am feeling really nice and beautiful after wearing jewelleries and the flowers in ornamental designs. I never thought I would wear something like this," said Sujata, a newly married lady devotee at the Durgiana Temple, Amritsar.

Carrying water pots on triangular and semi-circular wooden sticks decorated with colourful plastic flowers and photographs of Lord Shiva, the Kawarias traverse hundreds of kilometres of the pilgrimage.

Women chanted prayers and transformed the city into an ocean of saffron as they passed through the thoroughfares.

Kawarias or the pilgrims take a dip in the river Ganges, collect water from the river and take it back to their native places to offer it to Lord Shiva. The pilgrimage continues through the whole of Shravan month of Hindu calendar for 30 days. It is considered the longest fair of the world, drawing a lot of devotees from abroad. (ANI)