Yogi Govt Blends Navratri Bhakti with Mission Shakti

Aligning spiritual reverence with women's empowerment, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced state-sponsored devotional celebrations across prominent Devi shrines from Saptami to Navami during Sharadiya Navratri. Running from Saturday through Monday, the three-day cultural campaign integrates the flagship Mission Shakti program into traditional temple rituals. By pairing the sacred recitation of Durga Saptashati and traditional Devi Geet with messages of safety, self-respect, and self-reliance (suraksha, samman, aur swavalamban), the state administration aims to turn community religious gatherings into active catalysts for social awareness.

Empowering 78 Local Folk Artists: Stage Priority for Female Performers

To revive indigenous devotional music and provide direct economic livelihood support to grassroot cultural practitioners, the state Department of Tourism and Culture has curated dedicated performance stages:

• Structured Artist Deployment: A total of 78 local artists have been selected to perform across 26 prominent shrines, with each temple hosting three designated artists.

• Special Focus on Women Performers: The majority of selected performers are women folk vocalists, aligning their art with the spirit of Shakti worship.

• Capital and Sangam City Highlights: Lucknow's Chandrika Devi and Sankata Devi temples, alongside Prayagraj's historic Alopshankari Devi and Lalita Devi shrines, will host 12 performers across the four sanctums, with the remaining 22 temples accommodating three artists each.

• Preserving Sacred Oral Lore: The initiative provides folk performers with an institutional platform to perform rare regional Devi hymns, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and Braj bhajans before thousands of congregating devotees.

Devotion as a Catalyst for Social Change: Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh on Mission Shakti

Highlighting the vision behind combining festive faith with public welfare, Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh emphasized that Navratri represents an opportunity to honor both the divine feminine and the dignity of women in society:

• Fostering Public Awareness: The temple programs are crafted to spread widespread awareness on women's rights, child safety, education, and institutional grievance-redressal mechanisms supported under Mission Shakti.

• Cultural Patronage: The administration seeks to protect classical folk expressions against commercial dilution by providing registered artists with official honorariums and public exposure.

• Strengthening Livelihoods: Supporting traditional devotional singers during peak festival periods creates sustained patron-artist bonds within regional heritage circuits.

Comprehensive List of 26 Sacred Devi Temples Selected Across Uttar Pradesh

The three-day devotional festival will take place across these historically significant pilgrimage sites:

• Maa Vindhyavasini Devi – Mirzapur

• Vishalakshi Temple – Varanasi

• Mahalakshmi Devi Temple – Varanasi

• Jwala Devi Temple – Sonbhadra

• Sita Samahit Sthal (Sitamarhi) – Bhadohi

• Alopshankari Devi Temple – Prayagraj

• Lalita Devi Temple – Prayagraj

• Kadavasini Devi Temple – Kaushambi

• Maa Pateshwari Devipatan Temple – Balrampur

• Lalita Devi Temple (Naimisharanya) – Sitapur

• Maa Shakumbhari Devi Temple – Saharanpur

• Katyayani Devi Temple – Mathura

• Maa Sheetla Chowkiya Dham – Jaunpur

• Maa Belha Devi Temple – Pratapgarh

• Chandrika Devi Temple – Unnao

• Devkali Temple – Auraiya

• Maa Tarkulha Devi Dham – Gorakhpur

• Maa Sheetla Mata Sthal – Mau

• Maa Simhavahini Kali Devi – Chitrakoot

• Gayatri Shaktipeeth – Hamirpur

• Bairagarh Mata Temple (Konch) – Jalaun

• Maa Kushmanda Devi Temple (Ghatampur) – Kanpur Nagar

• Sheetla Mata Temple – Mainpuri

• Chamunda Devi Temple – Firozabad

• Chandrika Devi Temple – Lucknow

• Sankata Devi Temple – Lucknow