Dharamshala: Bollywood star actor Govinda having offered special puja at Mata Baglamukhi Temple, on the Dharamshala Hoshiarpur highway, late on Saturday evening, has sparked speculation that he is likely to contest the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election from a seat in Mumbai.
The actors visit was a closely guarded secret, but the local police was informed and a security cover was provided for the pilgrimage. Mahant Rajat Giri, chairman of the Bagalamukhi Trust, led a team of other priests to hold the puja.
In all yellow, Bagalamukhi, a Shaktipeeth temple 35 kms from Dharamshala, is the only kind of its temple in India where people from all over the country come to offer puja to dispel bad fortunes, overcome adversity and adversaries.
The most famous pilgrim to the temple has been Pranab Mukherjee, who as President of India visited the temple on 15th March, 2015 and performed a special puja.
Belief in the powers of temple to overcome adversity and adversaries have only gained ground from the time when Mrs Indira Gandhi came to the temple to perform puja in 1977 after she had been ousted from power following and election after lifting of the 19 month Emergency in the country.
With a thumping majority Mrs Indira Gandhi returned to power in the 1980 election that followed after the breakup the short lived Janta Party government.
Folklores speak about Raja Sansar Chand Katoch of Kangra in the 19th century setting out and winning princely battles only after performing puja at the Baglamukhi temple.
Govinda ,a member of the Indian National Congress was elected the member of parliament for the Mumbai North constituency of Maharashtra, India in the 14th Lok Sabha elections in 2004 by defeating Ram Naik of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The actor known for his dancing skills has appeared in over 165 Hindi films.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
