Summary:
According to Pandey, Motilal Nehru, his wife Swaroop Rani, his nephew Rajan Nehru, Indira Gandhi (thrice), Sonia Gandhi (2004), Rahul Gandhi (twice), Varun Gandhi (2016) and now Priyanka have paid tribute to Goddess Vindhyavasini.“Indiraji came here in 1980 and then twice in 1981. “Goddess Vindhyavasini is the kuldevi of Gandhi family. Four generations of the family have come here and all members have signed in their ‘bahee’ (register),” said Purohit Sumit Pandey, who belongs to the family of priests who have been kul purohits of the Gandhis.On Tuesday, Pandey assisted Priyanka when she offered prayers. MIRZAPUR: When Priyanka Gandhi left a message in ink in the special visitor’s book at Vindhyavasini temple on Tuesday afternoon, she carried forward an indelible family tradition.She had joined the league of her ancestors Motilal Nehru and Indira Gandhi among others from the Gandhi family, who had all left their inscriptions in the family’s register at the temple.Dressed in a red sari, as Priyanka entered the cramped lanes of the Vindhyavasini temple, she was following her grandmother Indira Gandhi’s footsteps who had visited it thrice earlier—twice being after she had declared Emergency. She undertook the ‘trikone yatra’ of the temple on foot in 1981 and then after four months, in 1981, revisited and conducted the solah sringar ceremony of the deity,” said Pandey.On Tuesday, Priyanka’s note in Hindi expressed happiness in connecting with the family’s history at the temple.Ending the note with ‘Jai Mata Di’ and her name Priyanka Gandhi Vadra signed underneath, she wrote, “Being here, meeting the pandas of my ancestors and the feeling of affection has given me happiness.”Pandey, who took Priyanka inside the temple, also said that she had called him her brother.“After the puja, Priyanka tied the mauli to my wrist and said that Rahul was her only brother until now but I have now become her second brother,” said Purohit Pandey..