Amritsar's famous 'Langur Mela' begins!

Starting with the celebrations of Navratri, a 10-day 'Langur Mela' on Sunday commenced in Punjab's Amritsar which will be concluded on the next of Dussehra.

It is believed that parents wish for a child and vow to dress them as 'langurs' (baboon) once their wish is granted.

Pilgrims in large numbers throng to the Bada Hanuman temple to offer prayers situated in the Durgiana temple complex.

"People are offering prayers here as it's the first day of langur puja today. Around 200 priests indulge in the rituals and prayers offered by the devotees here. Children dressed up as langurs, come here and offer prasad and prayers to Lord Hanuman. It is a tradition that children bow before Lord Hanuman twice a day during these ten days. They will shoot an arrow at Ravan on Dussehra and on the next day they will offer their special dresses to Lord Hanuman," one of the priests named Mitesh Kumar said.

The tradition of dressing children as langur is a common practice found only in Amritsar along with Navratas celebrations.

A devotee named Taniya, hailing from Yamuna Nagar in Haryana especially visited Amritsar to offer prayers at Bada Hanuman Mandir. "We will be staying here for the next ten days and my son will be dressing up as a langur twice a day for these ten days. I wanted a son and when he was born, I had vowed to come here and dress him up as a langur," she said.

Another devotee named Kanika said, "I had vowed that if I will be blessed with a baby boy I would come here with my son. So we have come here to fulfil our vow. People from across the globe come here as this temple holds a great significance."

The ten-day-long fair concludes on the next day of Dussehra when the children dressed like langurs offer special dresses in the Bada Hanuman Temple.

According to the mythology, this temple is the same place where Lord Hanuman got the royal horse released from Luv and Kush.