Nearly 1.8m devotees gather for Jaipur temple's annual Mehndi Utsav
About 3,500 kilograms of henna was brought from Sojat to Jaipur for the temple's mehndi pujan and distributed to devotees as prasad
Nearly 18 lakh (1.8 million) devotees gathered at the Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple in Jaipur on 13 September for the annual Mehndi Utsav, a ceremony held ahead of the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The tradition at the temple dates back about two centuries. According to the custom, applying blessed henna to an unmarried woman's hands is believed to ensure she will find a spouse within a year, says The Print.
About 3,500 kilograms of henna was brought from Sojat to Jaipur for the temple's mehndi pujan and distributed to devotees as prasad.
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Large crowds began forming early in the morning, with devotees standing for hours in the September heat. Miles-long queues stretched along MD Road and GLN Road, with some people arriving as early as 7 a.m.
By evening, the temple's supply of henna had been exhausted, leaving thousands of devotees without prasad.
The event drew an unusually large crowd after posts about the ceremony spread widely on social media. The gathering also led to disputes among devotees, including reports of male devotees fighting over the henna.
Online commentators attributed the surge in attendance to an "Instagram craze", while also raising questions about the growing number of unmarried singles across India.
