Indore (Madhya Pradesh): It was a usual cold morning in the winter season but the scenario was totally different. The time of early chill morning when most people remain in their sweet sleep, thousands of devotees thronged at the Ranjeet Hanuman Temple and were raising slogans to praise Lord Ranjeet Hanuman.
Whether it be children, women, men, or the elderly, people from all walks of life were waiting for their lord Hanuman to come out of the temple and to visit the city to know wellbeing of their devotees i.e. also known as Prabhat pheri (morning procession). The Prabhat pheri started at 5 am and the number of devotees started increasing as the day passed.
Continuing the 136-year-old tradition, thousands of devotees thronged on the streets of the western part of the city to welcome Lord Ranjeet Hanuman who had come out for ‘Prabhat Pheri’ (morning procession) on his chariot Friday morning.
The procession started at 5 am but a large number of people started gathering not only in the temple premises but also on the streets from Phooti Kothi to Mhow Naka and from Mhow Naka to Annapurna temple from 3 am, in the wait to see a glimpse of the lord.
Hundreds of stages were installed on both sides of the roads to welcome the morning procession through which people welcomed the devotees participating in the pheri by offering fruits, sweets, milk, and other stuff.
It was about a seven-kilometer-long procession but it took more than seven hours to reach back to the temple as the procession was taken out at 5 am and could reach the temple at 12 pm. The enthusiasm among devotees could be imagined with the fact that the procession could move a distance of one kilometer i.e. from Ranjeet Hanuman to Mhow Naka in two hours.
The procession was decked up with the bhajan mandalis, a team of Nashik dhols, Dhwaja Vahini, ‘muscular’ hanuman, and others but the main attraction of the show was the performers of Kerala who were dancing to the traditional music.
Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav, minister Tulsi Silawat, MIC member Bablu Sharma, and other BJP leaders too took part in the procession and were walking with the chief priest Pt Dipesh Vyas.
Later, prasad was distributed to the devotees along with the distribution of ‘Raksha Sutra’ till late evening on Friday to conclude the four-day celebration of Ranjeet Ashtami.
Over 136-year-old ritual, estimated over 1.25 lakh took part this year
According to chief priest Pt Dipesh Vyas, taking out a Prabhat pheri is a ritual of more than 136 years. “Earlier, the pheri was taken out near the temple premise by keeping the picture of Ranjeet Hanuman in hands. Later, in the 2000s, the picture was taken out in the pheri over a handcart but from 2008, a ‘vigrah’ of the idol was prepared and is being taken out of a chariot,” he said.
Before 2008, only about 100-150 people would have participated in the procession but now the number has broken all previous records of the last many years and it would be more than 1.25 lakh people.
