Yogi Adityanath becomes priest again: Uttar Pradesh CM to stay at Gorakhnath temple for five days during Navratri

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, will be now be seen in the role of the m_ahant_ (head priest) of Gorakhpur’s Gorakhnath temple for five days, media reports said.

Adityanath, who reached Gorakhpur on Tuesday, will stay at the temple for five days during which he will perform special pujas daily till the ninth day of Navratri festival, Hindustan Times reported.

Continuting the tradition, the chief minister will also take out ‘shobha yatra’ from the temple in Gorakhpur on Dussehra,  ABP News  reported. After covering busy areas of the city, the procession will end at Ramleela Temple, Navbharat Times  reported.

Adityanath will conduct ‘shastra pujan’ (worship of weapons), on the eight day of Navratri, and then will perform ‘havan’ on the ninth day, he will also hold a feast for children in the temple, the report added.

Although according to the tradition, Adityanath is supposed to stay at the temple for all the nine days of the Navratri festival, he will be present only for the first and last two days of the Navratri festival, Patrika  reported. The chief minister, had earlier broken this tradition when he went to visit the victims of rail accident in Gorakhpur in 2014, in which 14 people had lost their lives, the report added.

The police have made elaborate security arrangements for the visit.

“Since Gorakhpur is a sensitive region, civil police along with Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, have been deployed in the area. The chief minister will be provided security as per the protocol," Inspector-General of police (IG) Hari Ram Sharma was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.