At the Sector 41 Sanatan Dharam Sabha, an akhand Ramayan path was organised. In the satsangs organised by the Sivananda Mission at the Sivananda Seva Sadan, the teachings of Lord Rama were dwelt on.

PANCHKULA: More than 12 lakh devotees have thronged the week-long Navratra Mela held at the Mansa Devi temple which ended today after performing the Kanya Puja at 11 in the morning today.

The last three days witnessed heavy rush as one had to literally jostle his way through the crowd. But the devotees visiting the Mela had no complaints. A devotee who has been putting up at the Mela premises from the very first day told Newsline that during his stay, he faced no problems and praised the Shrine Board authorities for their excellent arrangements which kept the Mela going peacefully as no untoward incident was reported throughout the religious fervour which had enveloped the region all these days.

Many other devotees while talking to Newsline were all praise for those involved in making the event a success.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, H.S.Pannu informed Newsline that by Wednesday, around 1.5 lakh devotees had visited the Mela and by 23rd March, Rs 18 lakhs had been collected in offerings and additional Rs 4 lakh through auction. The offerings in the kind includes 50 gold tongues, 750 silver items, 200 kg desi ghee, 3 dozen ladies suits, 2 dozen sarees, 55 ceiling fans, 80 kg rice, 300 steel utensils, 1.5 dozen wall clocks, and 1.5 dozen tube sets till 23rd of this month.

On the last day, many prominent personalities visited the Shrine. Among them were Justice B.K.Singh; Income tax commissioner S.P.Gupta; Panjab Police inspector general, R.D.Sharma; commissioner and director, Higher Education, S.K.Saxena; inspector general, Prisons, Haryana, V.B. Singh; and superintendent of police, Panchkula, Alok Mittal.

Meanwhile a minor incident of fire was reported near Manav Kendar in the afternoon, but it was controlled within a few minutes due to efficient action of the fire service station. Meanwhile thetemples in the town wore a festive look today as devotees thronged these to offer prayers on the occasion of Ram Navmi. The temples were all decked up even as it witnessed a heavy rush of people of all ages.

In the morning, Bhajans echoed the primesis of different temples and later in the day Bhandaras were organised. Pandit Upender Shastri of Sector 6 Shree Lakshmi Narayan temple informed that a Shree Ram Janam Katha had been organised in the temple premises from 6 pm to 8 p.m starting on 26th of this month which will continue till March 30.