Hundreds of thousands throng Jyotiba temple for Chaitra Yatra

Kolhapur: Over 5 lakh devotees from across Maharashtra and neighbouring states thronged Jyotiba temple at Wadi-Ratnagiri hill in Kolhapur on Wednesday on the occasion of Chaitra Yatra.Around noon, tourism minister Shamburaj Desai, Kolhapur district collector Amol Yedge, ZP CEO S Karthikeyan, Kolhapur SP Yogesh Kumar Gupta and PMDS secretary Shivraj Naikwade offered prayers to the ‘Pratham Manachi' Sasan-Kathi of Satara district's Ninam Padali village. This was followed by the procession.Yedge said, "On the main day of the yatra, the traditional Abhishek ritual of the deity was performed around 5am, marking the commencement of religious ceremonies. At noon, following the ceremonial worship of the Sasan-kathis by minister Desai, the procession began. A total of 108 Manache Sasan-Kathi participated in the procession."At 5pm, the palanquin procession of Lord Jyotiba started with a cannon salute towards the temple of Goddess Yamai located downhill.