Author:
Publication: The Indian Express
Dated: May 17, 2006
Serpentine queues and a wait for at least
six hours in the sun did nothing to deter the religious fervour of devotees·
at the Siddhivinayak Temple on Tuesday as they waited for a darshan on the
occasion of Angaraki Sankashti Chaturthi.
"The crowd is much more this year as
there was no Angaraki Sankashti Chaturthi last year," said Prema Kadam
(29), a teacher in a Jogeshwari school, who was volunteering at the temple
and guiding the queue.
Starting 1.30 am, devotees lined up outside
the temple, with over a lakh people in line by 12.30 pm.
Roopali Sen (27), a resident of Kandivli and
a first-timer at the temple said, "I had heard the crowd here is as huge
as that during Ganesh Chaturthi and so, I decided to start early."
Sen had been standing in the queue since 8
am and got a darshan only at 1.15 pm. And Neelima Kamble (62), a home-maker
from Thane, had been standing in the line with her family since 7 am.
As volunteers moved around offering cold water
to devotees, the atmosphere resembled that of a fair with fruit and juice
stalls competing with flower, sweet and coconut vendors, all eyeing a quick
bargain.
