Haldwani, Sept. 20 -- A large number of devotees gathered at the Nanda Devi Festival on Saturday as idols of Goddess Nanda and Sunanda were unveiled for public viewing following the Pran Pratishtha ceremony during the auspicious Brahma Muhurta. Acharya Bhagwati Prasad Joshi consecrated the idols early on Saturday following rituals. Public darshan began after the Aarti, with devotees offering flowers and coconuts and praying for prosperity and well-being. Police personnel and volunteers of the organising body, Shri Ram Sevak Sabha, were deployed at the venue to manage arrangements and regulate the movement of devotees. The administration and the Animal Husbandry Department also made arrangements for goats brought by devotees as offerings. After rituals, devotees took the goats back with them. Nanda Devi Festival, also known as the Nanda Devi Mahotsav, is a festival in Nainital dedicated to Goddess Nanda Devi. On the festival's first day, devotees offer special prayers before idols of Nanda Devi and her sister Sunanda Devi, which are enshrined on the premises of the Naina Devi temple in a banana trunk. The festival will conclude on September 23.htc...