Though it is believed that the gods are above worldly sufferings like heat and cold, air conditioners (AC), coolers and fans have been installed near the idols at various temples in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district to provide relief to them from scorching heat and hot weather.
Chhatarpur is witnessing extreme heat these days and people are also staying indoors. The influx of devotees was reduced in the temples in the district as well due to the hot weather conditions.
“Devotees’ visits to the temple have almost stopped. They come to offer prayers mostly till 11 am and for around one to two hours during the evening after 6 pm. Besides, there is complete silence throughout the rest of the day as it is too hot here. The devotees have made arrangements of cooler, fan and AC for the deity in the temple,” said Rammilan Shukla, priest, Mote Mahavir Sarkar Mandir (Bhagwan Hanumanji’s temple).
Since emotions and feelings are considered to be the most important thing, one gets the result according to his feelings, therefore, arrangements have been made for coolers, fans and ACs for the deity here, the priest added.
Similarly, Prem Mandir priest Rajendra Maharaj said, “The temperature is quite high in the region. The way previously there used to be a queue of devotees here from morning till evening, but they come till around 9:30 only in the morning for the last darshan these days. During the evening hours too, devotees come to the temple only after 7 due to the heat. In such a situation, we have installed AC, fan and coolers to protect the deity from the heat.”
On the other hand, a devotee Vipin Aswasthi said that the way people installed AC, and cooler fans in summer, similarly they (devotees) installed air-cooling systems to protect their deity from the heat.
“The heatwave is creating havoc in the entire Bundelkhand region, including Chhatarpur district. The temperature has crossed over 40 degrees in the area. People have kept themselves indoors. Mote Mahavir Sarkar temple is the centre of faith for all the people. The way people stay in front of the cooler, fans and AC in summer. In the same way, we devotees have made arrangements of fan, cooler and AC to protect our deity from the heat,” he said.
