Celebrations in Yogi's Uttarakhand village

Celebrations broke out in Panchur, the native village in Uttarakhand of Yogi Adityanath, after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday afternoon.

Relatives, family members, old friends and villagers trooped into his modest family house and greeted the parents of the Gorakhpur MP. Dozens of people danced to folk tunes and splashed colour on each other.

Yogi was born in Pauri Garhwal region as Ajay Singh Bisht to Anand Singh Bisht, a forest ranger.

He left home around 1990 and joined the Gorakhnath Mutt in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and was declared the heir by Mahant Avaidyanath, the presiding priest of the famous temple.

Celebrations also broke out in Gorakhpur town in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the parliamentary constituency Yogi has represented since 1998.

People burst crackers and many broke into impromptu jigs as bands played on roadsides at many places.

Supporters carried photographs of the Chief Minister and raised slogans hailing the Hindutva leader.