From information on the historic significance of the temple, online donations to the detailed programme list of the nine-day fair to commemorate Navratra festival, devotees visiting the Mansa Devi temple can access all such information on the mobile app, ‘Mansa Devi’, launched by the Panchkula administration, on Saturday, the first day of the festival.
The application can be downloaded for free from Google Play store, which is available on all the android phones. Apart from general introduction about the temple, its history, and its murals and paintings, the mobile app contains information on the location of open kitchens (Bhandara) and worship (pooja) timings among others.
“The idea is to provide all the information about the temple at one place, so that devotees can plan their visit at ease,” stated Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Administrator, Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Vivek Atray who launched the application.
The application also provides phone numbers of the officials, who could be contacted for inquiries. It also encloses details about the nearby banks, police stations, railway reservation counters, and medical facilities provided at the fair.
“This is for the first time, that the district administration has launched an app exclusively for the temple. The devotees can make online donations by creating a user ID in the app for authentication,” said Manju Aggrwal, District Information Officer, while adding that the administration is planning to more such applications in the future, which includes one for the district administration and one for the municipal corporation.
The administration is also planning to add more features to the app like online booking of rest houses, permission for organising open kitchens (bhandaras), and also setting up stalls in the fair. “We are also planning to add link for live streaming of aarti (devotional song) from the temple, so that even when devotees are at home, they can listen to devotional songs,” Manju Aggrwal added.
Meanwhile, around 55,000 devotees paid obeisance at the temple on the first day of the nine-day festival which began amidst heavy security arrangements at the Mata Mansa Devi temple.
Large number of police force was deployed in the area, with over 16 nakas put up at various points, and 32 CCTV cameras.
While the administration did not issue any VIP cards, it continued the practice of giving invitation cards to ministers, top officials and media.