Shahdol, A grand Maha Ashtami Maha Aarti is going to be organised on the occasion of Chaitra Navratri at the Shri Virateshwari Dham Durga Mata Temple, situated in the heart of the city. Giving information on Wednesday, Vinay Kewat, a servant of Shri Durga Mata Seva Samiti, said that on the auspicious occasion of the nine-day Mahaparva of Chaitra Navratri, the Hindu New Year Shukla Pratipada, a Maha Aarti of Maa Bhagwati is being organised on the day of Chaitra Navratri Maha Ashtami. Giving information in this context, the priest of the temple, Shri Jayantraj Tiwari, said that on the occasion of Chaitra Navratri, from the very first day, the grand puja of Mother Bhagwati, the mother of the world, is being performed by the priests and devotees of the temple by offering water and offering Prasad and worshipping the Mother with full devotion. He said that like every year, on the occasion of the nine-day Mahaparva, this year too, a grand Maha Aarti of Maa Virateshwari Ji will be organised on Thursday, 26/3/2026, on the auspicious occasion of Chaitra Navratri and a special event will be organised on the occasion of Maha Navami on Friday, 27 March. The decoration of Maa Bhagwati will be done and on 28th March, Saturday, a huge feast will be organized in the court of Maa Virateshwari, whereas on 29th March, Sunday, a grand Jawara procession will be organized in the court of Maa Virateshwari with Kali Khappar dance on the beats of drums and nagada. Jawaras of Maa Bhagwati will be immersed in the local Mohan Ram pond after touring the city. On this occasion, all the devotees of Mata Rani are requested to reach the court of Maa Bhagwati in maximum numbers and participate in Maha Ashtami Aarti, Navami special decoration, huge feast, Jawara procession and receive the blessings of Mata Rani and make their lives blessed. It was also informed that on this occasion, like every year, all arrangements for the devotees visiting the temple are free of charge by the Shri Durga Mata Seva Samiti. These include shoe stands, motorcycle stands, coconut breaking, water, lights, distribution of Prasad, cleaning after the devotees' Katha pujan, and distribution of Mahaprasad after the Maha Aarti on Ashtami. The servants of the Shri Durga Mata Seva Samiti include the temple priests Jayantraj Tiwari, Ankitraj Tiwari, Geeteshraj Tiwari, Manishraj Tiwari, Vikas Tiwari, and the patrons of the Shri Durga Mata Seva Samiti, Shri Narayan Pandey, Shri Ashok Mishra, President Shri Purushottam Das Gupta, Anil Saini Bhalu, Devender Dwivedi, Vinay Kewat, Rajesh Tripathi, Ajay Srivastava, Mrigendra Singh, Devendra Gupta, Rakesh Yadav, Ram Chelani, Rahul Shrivas, Alok Khator, Somu Gupta, Niranjan, Anil Singh, Gaurav Rajput, Shubham Agnihotri, Shivam Dubey, Shubham Dubey, Vidyacharan. Like every year, the servants of Upadhyay, Ramkishore Kevat, Ravi Kevat, Jatin Mangalani, Gautam Raj, Lovely, Ranjan Gupta, Vinod Namdev, Pankaj Maurya, Akash Namdev, Akash Chaudhary, Ajju Vishwakarma, Gagan Verma, Vedansh Gautam, Abhishek Sondhia are continuously rendering their services in the court of Mother Goddess.