Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and former MLA Glen Ticlo offering prayers to the Dev Khapreshwar at Socorro. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker
The idol of Dev Khapreshwar was reinstalled at Vodakadem-Socorro on Monday, amid religious fervour.
A large number of devotees attended the Punarpratistapana ceremony despite continuous rains throughout the day.
The ceremony was marked by traditional Vedic Chanting, Pooja and Mahaprasad.
The idol of Dev Khapreshwar, known as Protector of the Village (Rakhandar), was shifted elsewhere during ongoing work of the Porvorim elevated corridor and the banyan tree was translocated during construction activity.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and former MLA Glen Ticlo were among those who paid a visit and offered prayers to Dev Khapreshwar.
Speaking on the occasion, Sawant stated that he is happy that the idol of Dev Khapreshwar had been reinstalled at its original place.
“The government has fulfilled its promise given to the committee of the Khapreshwar Devastan. Unnecessary tension was created by some people on the issue of shifting of Dev Khapreshwar. The government is not interested in hurting the religious feelings of people,” said Sawant.
President of the Devastan Committee Kartik Kudnekar and Mahananda Asnodkar thanked the chief minister for fulfilling the promise and helping the committee to reinstall the Khapreshwar idol as early as possible.
