Tens of thousands of devotees from across the region thronged temples in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday on the first day of the nine-day long Navratri festival.
A majority of the devotees were from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.
The popular temples of Naina Devi in Bilaspur; Chintpurni in Una; Baba Balak Nath in Hamirpur; Brajeshwari Devi, Jwalaji and Chamunda Devi in Kangra; and Bhimakali and Hateshwari in Shimla district saw a huge rush.
The festival will conclude on October 7.
Security has been beefed up and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed to manage the crowd in all the prominent shrines, a senior police official said.
Naina Devi shrine is expecting over 20,000 devotees daily at the temple during the nine –day long Navratri festival. Devotees would be able to watch online live "darshan" of Brajeshwari Devi, Naina Devi, Chintpurni and Jwalaji temples. They would also be able to offer online offerings.
