Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani (Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Amethi Smriti Irani visited various temples during her daylong visit on the occasion of Dusshera. She participated in Ramlila in Amethi, became part of the celebrations in the presence of artists who were essaying the roles of Ram, Sita and Laxman. She performed the aarati to pay her respects to the artists performing at the Ramlila.
Smriti Irani celebrated the festival with the people of her Lok Sabha constituency that was previously known for being the bastion of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
She was wearing a red chunari (stole) that marks the worship of goddess Durga and is worn at temples dedicated to the Devi. During her visit, she reportedly didn’t make any political comments. Assembly election will be held in Uttar Pradesh in 2022.
She reportedly visited Jagdishpur, Tiloi’s Ahorwa Bhawani temple, in Gauriganj, the Durgan Bhawani temple, the Kalikan Bhawani temple at Sangrampur.
Last week, Uttar Pradesh announced that it would organise a mass recitation of Ramcharitmanas in selected temples dedicated to Ram and Hanuman on Valmiki Jayanti that falls on 20 October this year.
Smriti Irani's visit to temples in the constituency coincides with the preparations for the event. In the celebrations being conducted under the state culture department, samitis or committees will be carved to conduct the festivities. Information of the temples, their GPS location and contact details, and details of the performing artists surrounding the celebrations at the temples have been taken into account.
It will be observed in temples and pilgrimage centres associated with Ram and Ramayana, across the state, with the reciting of the Ramcharit Manas in sessions of different durations. The reciting sessions will be in sets of eight, twelve and twenty-four hours each.
Besides her participation in the Ramlila celebration in Amethi, Smriti Irani posted an artwork "that showcases a woman putting sindur or vermilion on Maa Durga's cheeks. This is a ritual followed by Bengali women while bidding adieu to Goddess Durga," the Hindustani Times reported.
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