Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The chants of “Dingbara, Dingbara Shripad Vallabh Digambara” filled the air as a conch marked the start of the aarti “Trigunatmak Trimurti Datt Ha Jana,” on Thursday.After waiting in queues for over half an hour, devotees finally glimpsed Lord Datta’s idol.
Faces lit with serenity, they immersed themselves in prayer, chanting continuously inside the temple. The line, “Datt Datt Aise Lagale Dhyan, Bhavikanchi Harapale Man,” captured the mood perfectly. The devotion was widespread across the city’s 58 Datt temples, where devotees bowed at the feet of Lord Dattatreya, chanting “Avadhoot Chintan Shrigurudev Datt.”
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Silver cradle and ivory idol draw crowds
At Sant Kashivishwanath Baba Sansthan in Beed Bypass–Devlai Chowk, priests adorned the idol with ornaments and fresh garlands. A silver cradle held a three-inch ivory idol of Lord Dattatreya. At noon, priest Santosh Dasalkar performed the cradle ritual with devotional songs. Earlier, Prahlad Shinde conducted the abhishek and worship of the sacred padukas. The temple distributed over 65,000 packets of boondi prasad to devotees, keeping a steady flow of visitors until late night.
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Aarti and readings across the district
In 124 Swami Samarth Seva Kendra, including Hudco, Garkheda, Shivajinagar, and Samarthnagar, Datta Jayanti celebrations began at 12.39 pm with a collective reading of four chapters from Gurucharitra. Around 64,000 devotees participated. At the Hudco centre, a special rangoli depicted Lord Dattatreya and Swami Samarth with mantra symbols.
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Women sing lullabies in cidco
At Jagrut Datt Mandir, Cidco N-7, women gently rocked a large cradle while singing the traditional lullaby “Jo Jo Jo Jo Re Sukumara, Dattatreya Avatara” during the 6 pm kirtan by H.B.P. Pragyatai Ramdasi from Beed. Priests Uddhav Vazurkar, Ratnakar Diwan, and Ramakant Jambhorkar chanted Vedic mantras, and fireworks lit the night sky.