Preparations underway for Navratri fair at Shri Mata Sheetla Devi Temple

The Shri Mata Sheetla Devi temple in Gurugram will host a Navratri fair from September 22, with officials ensuring safety and amenities for devotees.

The historic Shri Mata Sheetla Devi temple, one of Gurugram’s most revered religious landmarks, is set to host its grand Navratri fair beginning from September 22 and continuing throughout the nine-day festival.

Sheetla Mata temple Gurugram (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

To review preparations, Haryana’s Minister of industries and commerce, Rao Narbir Singh, chaired a high-level meeting at the temple premises on Friday. The meeting was attended by deputy commissioner and chief administrator of Shri Mata Sheetla Devi shrine board Ajay Kumar, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) commissioner Pradeep Dahiya, along with members of the temple management committee, said officials on Saturday.

During the review, Singh directed officials to ensure that all devotees enjoy safe and seamless facilities during the mela. “This fair is both a celebration of devotion and a festival of faith, attracting lakhs of devotees. It is our foremost responsibility to provide them with a clean environment, smooth traffic management, adequate security, and basic amenities. Every devotee must return with a satisfactory and positive experience,” Singh said, adding that roads leading to the temple must be repaired on priority, especially as the monsoon season ends.

Deputy commissioner Ajay Kumar informed the minister that each department has been given time-bound plans. He said the police department has been instructed to strengthen security, oversee crowd management, and prepare special traffic arrangements, including designated parking sites and diversion routes to ensure smooth vehicular flow. The health department will deploy ambulances and doctors at the temple premises and parking areas, while fire tenders will be stationed at the mela site to address emergencies.

The MCG will handle sanitation, maintain cleanliness of public toilets, ensure drinking water availability, and streamline waste disposal. The transport department has been tasked with arranging smooth and frequent public transport services, while the electricity department will provide uninterrupted power supply with backup arrangements.

During the meeting, the minister also reviewed the ongoing construction of the new temple building. He instructed officials to maintain strict quality standards and plan with future requirements in mind, ensuring the infrastructure can handle the growing number of devotees in the years to come.