Flowers from Ghazipur market adorn Vaishno Devi Temple

The fragrance from Delhi's Ghazipur flower market fills the Vaishno Devi Temple premises which is adorned with thousands of roses, Dahlias, orchids and strings of marigolds this Navratri festival. As one starts the trek towards the shrine nestled in Trikuta Hills, flowers of all hues adorn the way giving it a festive look. 

Dahlias, roses, orchids, lilies, mogra-- all these and more combine to give a colourful look to the bhawan that attracts close to 50,000 devotees during the Navratri season. 

According to Vijay Singh, chairman of the flower market, "Not only Vaishno Devi, but even other temples like Kangra Devi and Jwala Devi temples are also decorated with flowers from our market. It has been a tradition for the last many years to procure flowers from the market."

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Representatives from the market said flowers worth Rs three crore are sent in two batches to deck up the entrance to the bhawan and the main bhawan. According to data shared by the market, 18,000 bundles of roses, 22,000 bundles of gerbera, 7000 bundles of orchids, 6000 bundles of anthurium, 10,000 bundles of lilies apart from other flowers, including marigold strings are sent in two batches. 

As many as 350 to 400 persons are sent from Delhi to decorate the bhawan. 

"Three to four trucks are sent two days before the festival begins. The other batch of trucks is sent in the middle of Navratri. The decor is finalised and accordingly the flowers are chosen," said a representative from the market. The representative said this has been the tradition for over 25 years. 

In 2011, three flower markets in Mehrauli, Fatehpuri and Baba Kharak Singh Marg were merged to form the Ghazipur flower market in East Delhi. 

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"The flowers were even sent to Vaishno Devi and other temples for decorations even when the market was on Baba Kharak Singh Marg," the market representative said. There are some devotees who specially come to Vaishno Devi shrine just to see the decorations. 

Sanju, a devotee from Delhi said, "There is a different atmosphere in Navratri -- the vibe and the decorations are just breathtaking." 

Neetu Rajput, a Delhi-based homemaker, who was on her eighth visit to the shrine said, "The crowd is always there but in Navratri the vibe is different." 

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