Shakti devotees Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath begin 9-day Chaitra Navratri fast

PM Narendra Modi will maintain a strict diet comprising of just warm water and lemonade.

New Delhi/Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have joined millions in starting a nine-day fast to mark the Chaitra Navratri festival.

Both Modi and Yogi are self-professed devotees of Goddess Durga and have been for years observing fasts during the Navratri festival.

For the next nine days, PM Modi will maintain a strict diet comprising of just warm water and lemonade. His devotion to Goddess Shakti can be gauged from the fact that he had started campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls after paying obeisance at Mata Vasihno Devi temple in Jammu.

Even after becoming the PM, he has been unwavering in his commitment towards carrying out the fast, as he has been doing for the last 35 years. In September 2014, PM Modi had observed the Kartik Navratri fast even during his state visit to the United States.

This year too, with the GST bill, coming up for clearance in the Parliament, PM Modi will have to follow a grueling schedule all through the nine days of fasting.

Yogis' Navaratri

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also an ardent devotee of Goddess Durga. As Mahant of the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, Yogi used to spend the nine days of Navratri in Shakti Sadhana.

Now as CM of India's largest state, Yogi will continue to observe fast and carry out rituals but given his mission to turn around the state, his time will also be spent on official work.

Yogi's fast is said to be not as strict as PM Modi's. He will eat fruits and dairy products.

As Yogi Adityanath is a follower of the Nath sampradaya, he will perform a havan on the eight day itself and perform Kanya pujan.

All these rituals are expected to be held at the CM's Kalidas Marg residence in Lucknow this year.