Anuj Sharma/Amritsar25 minutes ago
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Durgyana Temple in Amritsar is the only temple in India where people keep their child in the guise of a langoor for the entire Navratri when the vow is fulfilled. In this fair, children take the form of a langur, carrying a red dress with silver colored goatee, a conical cap on the head and a stick in their hand. It is being concluded on Dussehra today with the same gaiety with which this fair started on the first Navratri, amidst the chants of Jai Shri Ram on the beat of the drum with the cham-chham of Ghungroo tied in the feet.
This time 4856 children got registered in the Langur fair. The youngest of them is 4 months old. This year a child from abroad has reached the fair. Among those who become langurs, there is also a young man of 24 and a half years. The biggest attraction of this only one of its kind fair in India is the children who become langurs.
Langur fair was not held in the year 2020 due to Corona. In 2021, the Langur fair was held, but due to Corona, only about 3 thousand children had come in it. This time for the first time after the corona wave was completely over, such a large number of children reached the langur fair.
On the occasion of Dussehra this evening, after burning the effigies of Ravana-Meghnad, these children will reach the big Hanuman temple of Durgyana shrine early tomorrow morning and take off their cloak by bowing before Bajrang Bali. After taking off the chola, the children will go to their respective homes with the parents. Special preparations have been made in view of the crowd of devotees in the big Hanuman temple in the Durgyana temple complex.
For 10 days barefoot, children and their parents who become Sonalangur on the ground have to follow many rules here. On the first day of the fair, a puja is performed before the formation of the langur, in which sweets, coconut and flower necklaces are offered. After this, after taking blessings from the priest, the children wear the chola of langur. Children who become langurs have to come to the temple twice daily to pay their respects. Apart from this, they have to sleep on the ground. One has to remain barefoot throughout Navratri. Nothing cut with a knife is also eaten during this time. The food during the entire fair has been Vaishno. Children who become langurs cannot go inside someone else’s house other than their own.
A child who becomes a langur cannot handle needle, thread and scissors. He should recite Hanuman Chalisa 11 times a day. On the day of Dussehra, the children of langurs shoot arrows at the effigies of Ravana and Meghnad. On the next day, all the children bow their heads in front of Hanumanji in the temple and take off their arrows.
Children became langurs in Bada Hanuman temple.
For Vanarsena, the second major attraction of the crowd in the morning and evening are the monkey armies, in which the youths involved in the costume of Hanuman ji get a lot of applause with their expressions. People especially reached the temple every evening to see Vanarsena. Somebody took the form of Hanuman in Vanarasena and some became Sugriva.
