The New Indian Express ·
Viral reels draw record 18 lakh devotees to Jaipur’s Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple for Mehndi Utsav
JAIPUR: A wave of faith, fuelled by viral social media reels, drew a massive crowd to Jaipur’s famous Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple on Sunday, with unmarried men and women and their families arriving from across the country for the annual ‘Mehndi Utsav’.
Viral reels claiming that applying the temple’s Sinjara mehndi (henna) helps pave the way for marriage sparked such curiosity that devotees began arriving in Jaipur as early as Saturday night. People travelled from all over India, including from cities like Indore, Bhopal and Agra.
Despite the heat and humidity, devotees waited in queues for six to seven hours to receive the mehndi. By around 7 PM, the temple administration announced that the stock had run out.
The temple sees large crowds every year around Ganesh Chaturthi, but this year’s Mehndi Utsav was unprecedented. For the first time, a huge number of devotees arrived a day before Ganesh Chaturthi specifically for the henna distribution. Temple authorities put the footfall at around 18 lakh in a single day, reportedly a record.
The sudden surge led to pushing and shoving at several points, while long queues stretched towards JLN Marg. Police personnel and temple volunteers were deployed at distribution points, and additional forces were brought in to manage the crowd. Some devotees reportedly spent the night outside the temple after arriving on Saturday.
Kailash Sharma of the temple administration said the Sinjara festival had to begin around two and a half hours ahead of schedule because of the overwhelming crowd. The distribution of mehndi prasad, scheduled for 7:30 PM after the Sinjara worship, began at around 5 PM.
Around 3,500 kg of henna, procured from Sojat City in Pali district, known for the highest production of henna in the country, had been arranged for the occasion. The entire stock was exhausted within three hours, prompting the temple administration to ask devotees to return home. The massive turnout also caused traffic jams around the temple, with vehicles stuck for nearly one and a half hours.
The temple’s Mahant, Kailash Sharma, said the tradition began around two centuries ago with just 1.25 kg of henna and has now evolved into the nationally known ‘Mehndi Utsav’.
Devotees believe that the henna offered to Lord Ganesha brings good fortune and helps remove obstacles to auspicious occasions, including marriage. Social media reels have amplified this belief, with claims that unmarried men and women who apply the blessed henna may see marriage prospects within a year.
Ramesh Sharma, a shopkeeper near the temple, said he had never witnessed such a crowd in his 40 years in the area. What began as an old religious tradition has now been given a new lease of life by social media, turning the Moti Dungri Mehndi Utsav into a nationwide attraction.