the descendants of Jalim Giri Baba, who still live in the village. In 1977, the pradhan () of the gram panchayat organised a separate temple management committee, and during that process also evicted the Goswami family and its administration from the temple. Before the takeover, all the offerings in the temple were deposited to the gram panchayat, including earnings from stallage related to the organisation's annual nine-day long fair and funds donated for the Goswami family's income. Temple deity The sanctum sanctorum, garbhagriha, of the temple houses the murti of the primary deity of the temple, the goddess Sikri, who is believed to be an incarnation of the goddess Durga. The devotees of Sikri offer chunari, coconut, and prasāda of cardamom in the temple in her reverence. Idols of other Hindu gods and goddesses are also installed in the temple, which is common in most Hindu temples. Animal sacrifice was a common practice in the temple until 1952 when some teachers of the village, including Aditya Goswami, Pandit Hari Dutt Ved, and their colleagues, protested against this ritual and had it banned. An akhand yagya () is held continuously for three days—the sixth, seventh, and eighth days of the Chaitra month—every year at the place that was earlier used for sacrificing the animals, usually goats and roosters. However, live goats and liquor are still offered to the goddess with a belief that it will please her. Congregation The temple attracts large numbers of devotees from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Punjab. The Navaratri festivals in the months of Chaitra and Ashvin (Sharada) witness thousands of visitors attending the temple. Like other places of worship in the country, the temple was closed for visitors and its doors were sealed off by the district administration during the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Its doors were reopened on 9 June 2020 in the presence of a tehsildar who was sent as the representative of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, representatives of gram panchayat, and Ghaziabad Police officials. The temple mahant () Sunil Kumar performed a special puja in the beginning of the door-opening ceremony. Navaratri fair A large fair, the Devi Mela (), is organised by the temple administration during the nine days of the Navaratri festival of the Chaitra month. Chaitra marks the beginning of the Hindu new year and coincides with the months of March and April on the Gregorian calendar. The