Langur Ceremony in Amritsar on Navratras

To mark the beginning of the Navratra festival, the distinctive ten days "Langur Mela" has commenced at Amritsar's Bara Hanuman Temple. For ten days young boys as well as some older people will dress up as "langurs" and would go to the temple complex bare-footed every morning and evening with their families. Childless couples from far-flung places come to this annual mela to get blessings. Devotees pledge to dress their child as a "langoor", if their wish of having a child is fulfilled. Legend has it that devotees of Lord Hanuman wish for a male child and offer prayers in his grace for ten days by masquerading their son as Langoors on fulfillment of their wish. It is believed that this is the only temple where childless couples ask for a male child. These "langurs" in their red tunics and conical red caps embellished with gold and silver motifs are a sight to behold. Their faces are pasted with fuller's earth and their features highlighted. Each "langur" carries a tall silver or gold-coloured staff. The mela concludes on the day of Dussehra