Lata Mandapotsav held at Shri Balaji temple in Deulgaon Raja amid chants of Lakshmi Raman Govinda

The unique Lata Mandapotsav of Shri Balaji Maharaj, known as Prati Tirupati, was held with fanfare in Deulgaon Raja town. The festival is held only in Deulgaon Raja town in all of Maharashtra. The atmosphere was charged with enthusiasm amid chants of "Bol Balasaheb ki jai" and "Lakshmi Raman Govinda".

Temple bells rang out, drums sounded at the entrance, and the Shri Balaji temple complex filled with cries of "Govinda Govinda".

The mandapotsav began on Monday, October 19, on Ashwin Shukla 8 and 9, in the presence of devotees. At the festival, dignitaries and devotees tied ropes around 42 mandaps and raised 21 massive teak pillars, each a foot and a half in diameter and 32 feet high.

An ancient stone idol of Hanuman stands near the main gate, and a stone idol of Garuda stands in front of the sansthan. The massive Lata Mandap was set up by binding the two idols with a single unbroken rope. Dignitaries and all community members helped with the work. After the Lata Mandap was raised, the Shri Balaji Sansthan distributed prasad to all the dignitaries.

According to the programme issued by the Shri Balaji Sansthan, a palanquin procession will be taken out at midnight at 12 on Dussehra, Tuesday, October 20, on Ashwin Shukla 9 and 10. The Shri palanquin will circumambulate the entire town and be installed in the temple on Wednesday, October 21, Ashwin Shukla 10. After that, the Lalit Utsav will be concluded at sunrise, at 5.45 am, on Thursday, October 29, Ashwin Krishna 4.

So that devotees can easily make offerings and eternal food donations, the Shri Balaji Sansthan has made separate QR codes available. The sansthan has said devotees can deposit donations through these QR codes.

Hereditary trustee Raje Vijaysinh Jadhav and manager Kishor Bidkar of the Shri Balaji Sansthan have appealed to all devotees to take part in the festival of Shri and gain the benefit of darshan, prasad and the yatra.