Himachal: Bajreshwari Devi temple to have 2,100 kg idol of clarified butter

Preparations have begun on Tuesday to install a statue of a goddess made with 2,100 kg of clarified butter in a famous temple in the Kangra town of Himachal Pradesh, officials said. The idol of Goddess Bajreshwari Devi, prepared with "desi ghee" after purifying it 101 times with holy water by temple priests, will be unveiled before the devotees on early Wednesday, temple official Apoorv Sharma told the media. The Bajreshwari Devi temple is one of the busiest shrines in North India that witnesses a large number of pilgrims coming from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.

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Ritual followed during Makar Sankranti

The temple official said the idol would be taken off from the "Pindi" or iconography and will be distributed as "prasad" to the devotees on Monday, January 20. It is believed that the butter from the idol has healing qualities that cure chronic skin ailments and joint pain.

As per a popular legend, when the goddess was injured while fighting demons, the gods treated her wounds with butter on Makar Sankranti, which is a major harvest festival celebrated in various parts of the country. Each year, the preparations for installing the butter idol in the Bajreshwari Devi temple begin on Makar Sankranti, which is celebrated as a week-long festival at the temple in Himachal.

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Makar Sankranti: Harvest festival of India

Makar Sankranti is celebrated on January 15 every year. This festival is celebrated in different parts of India with different traditions and names. According to the Hindu calendar, this festival is celebrated on a specific day that is referred to as a solar day in the Hindu calendar. The festival is all about worshipping the sun and the legend of Hindu mythology related to Sankranti. 

On the day of Makar Sankranti, the sun starts its Northward movement. This is also known as the Uttrayan journey, and therefore the festival is known Uttrayan in the state of Gujarat. Kite flying is one of the sports that is practised on this day. It is one of the biggest festival sports in Gujarat on the day of Uttrayan. In other parts of the nation, there are various sports and dances that are held to commemorate the festival.

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