UP to hold Navratri music, Durga Saptashati recitals at 26 Devi temples

Uttar Pradesh's Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, inaugurated a series of Navratri cultural programmes to be held at 26 Devi temples across the state under the government's Mission Shakti campaign. He launched the series after offering prayers at the Badi Kali Mandir in Chowk, Lucknow, and said Devi temples in every district of Uttar Pradesh have benefited from the state's tourism development work since 2017. The programmes will be staged on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, which fall on 17, 18 and 19 October this year, and will include devotional songs in praise of Goddess Durga and recitation of the Durga Saptashati.

Navratri, the nine nights dedicated to the Goddess in her different forms, is one of the busiest times of the year at Devi shrines in north India. Uttar Pradesh has many such shrines, from famous pilgrimage centres to small local temples that serve a single town or group of villages. By taking organised cultural programmes to 26 of them, the state's tourism and culture department is placing music and scripture recitation at the heart of the festival, not only queues and darshan arrangements.

The choice of the last three days of Navratri is deliberate. Saptami, Ashtami and Navami are the days of the most intense worship. The Durga Saptashati, the hymn to the Goddess widely chanted during Navratri, is central to these days. Public recitations at temples allow people who do not chant at home to listen and take part.

The programme also carries a social message. It runs under Mission Shakti, the Uttar Pradesh government's campaign for women's safety, dignity and self-reliance, and reports on the launch link the festival of the Goddess to that campaign. The minister presented the series as a mix of respect for regional faith traditions and better facilities for pilgrims in the surrounding areas.

The budget is modest. At Rs 28.08 lakh for 26 temples across three days, most of the money goes to the people who perform: artists' honoraria and travel, volunteer support, and basic arrangements. For local singers and folk musicians, such state-funded stages during the festival season are a meaningful source of work and visibility.

Short-term: Devotees visiting the selected temples in the final days of Navratri will find organised music and recitation programmes, and local artists will be paid to perform at them. Temple committees and district officials will need to manage larger evening crowds.

Long-term: The minister's remarks show the state treating temple tourism as a district-level effort, not one limited to famous shrines. If programmes like this are repeated each year, smaller Devi temples could become regular stops on festival itineraries, with benefits for local shops, transport and guides.

Who is affected: Devotees and pilgrims at the 26 temples, temple trusts, local musicians and reciters, volunteers, and small traders around the shrines.

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