Ujjain: Twice in a row! Hindu New Year celebrations held sans fanfare

Ujjain: For the second consecutive year Mahakal City witnessed low-key symbolic celebrations on ‘Gudi Padwa’ or ‘Nav Samvatsar’, on Tuesday.

People tied Gudi at their homes and recited Durgasaptshati paath to mark the beginning of Chaitra Navratri at the temples and homes.

The second corona wave has affected the festive mood of the Ujjainites and they commemorated the Nav Samvat-2078 named as ‘Anand’ on symbolic basis only.

Instead of giving aradhya to sun, the members of Navsamvat-Navvichar organisation performed it from Bada Ganesh Mandir. Veteran astrologer Pt Anand Shankar Vyas, Yogesh Sharma, Dinesh Jain Hicommand and Dr Santosh Vyas were present. Later, indra dhanush and gudi aarohan were held at Gopal Mandir Chowk.

Shri Kshetra Panda Samiti members offered ardhya to sun from Ram Ghat, near the banks of river Kshipra. Dugdhabhishek and special prayer to safeguard people from Corona pandemic were also made. Pt Rajesh Trivedi, Maya Trivedi, Akhilesh Choubey, Manish Dibbewala, Umesh Bhatt, Ajay Vyas and Sanjay Trivedi were also present.

Devotees of Dr Kalyani Chaitanya Brahamacharini Amma and Vikramaditya Navsamvat Dharm Dhwajarohan Samiti hoisted 81 ft high and 51 ft long flag at Rudra Sagar. Phoolchand Jariya, Ravi Shrivastava, Krishnakant Mehta, Mahesh Tilak and Vijay Joshi were present.

To mark the Nav varsah Chetichand Mahotsava, the Sindhi Samaj prepared community lunch and distributed it among the needy. Vinod Mulani, Kishore Mulani, Santosh Lalwani, Rajkumar Paraswani and others were present.

According to Pt Vinod Vyas and Pt Gourav Upadhyaya, the traditional ‘Shri Mahakaleshwar-Bhartruhari-Vikram Dhwaj Chal Samaroh’ was held on symbolic basis. The Sinhpuri Gurjar Goud Brahmin Samaj members continued this tradition by worshipping 51 flags during a programme at Aataal-Paataal Bhairav Mandir, Sinhpuri. Further, prayer, worship and anushthan etc events are being organised on all 9 days at Jay Nageshwar Mahadev Baal Hanuman Mandir, Indira Nagar.

According to Pt Rajesh Sharma, the event has been dedicated for the eradication of corona pandemic. Ghat Sthapana of Goddess Durga was performed at Prakateshwar Mahadev Mandir, Freeganj. Attractive decoration of Mata Shri Tripur Bhairvi was also made. A 9-day anushthan for the welfare of people also began, as informed by the priest Pt Ghanshyam Sharma.

According to RSS’s local media in-charge Dharmendra Singh Parihar, in a bid to nurture and conserve the soil a national-level public awareness drive was launched in the district from Chaitra Shukla Pratipada (Tuesday).

Accordingly, soil conservation programme at 705 villages, 324 village panchayats, 75 mandals, 10 bastis and 3 nagars were held simultaneously across the district. In Nagda, 54 places under 411 villages were covered under the drive on Tuesday. Likewise, in Ujjain, the event was organised at 60 places.