Mumbai: A number of devotees on Monday fasted and made a beeline to Lord Vishnu temples across the city. Vaikunth Ekadashi is known as a day when boons are granted and people fast on this day to impress Lord Balaji or Lord Narayan (Lord Vishnu's other names).
At the Shree Balaji Temple in Fanaswadi, a number of people visited since early morning to witness the Vaikunth Dwar Darshan of Lord Balaji. Darshans continued through the day, with aartis taking place at different times. “We had the Vaikunth Dwar Darshan at 6am. A flower gate is made and using a palanquin, the statue of the lord is carried for which many line up. Even during the day, many people turned up for darshan, which went on till late,” said Suresh Chaudhury, manager of the 95-year-old Shree Balaji Mandir.
As per Hindu mythology, Vaikunth Ekadashi is celebrated to mark the death of a demon. “A rakshasa (demon) named Mur troubled all the devas. Tired, they prayed to Lord Shiva to rid them of him. When the devas managed to impress Lord Shiva, he asked them to pray to Lord Vishnu as he would help in slaying the demon. Lord Vishnu was sleeping on Ksheersagar at the time and the demon got to know about this. He thought if he woke up, he will kill him so why not kill Lord Vishnu in his sleep? When Mur went to do that, a woman came out of the Lord's body and slayed the demon. Happy, the Lord gave her the name Ekadashi after waking up. It is called Putrada Ekadashi or Vaikunth Ekadashi since then,” Shri Balaji Temple priest, Pandit Venkatesh Pareek said, adding that Lord Vishnu gets impressed and grants boons to whoever fasts on the day.
