GETTING READY: An arch welcomes pilgrims at Gunadala Mary Matha Church in Vijayawada for the festivities commencing on February 9.

VIJAYAWADA: The Mary Matha shrine at Gunadala is getting decked-up for the three-day annual fete scheduled to commence on February 9. Over 10 lakh pilgrims from across the State are expected to participate in the festival and offer special prayers.

As a prelude to main festivities, nine-day prayers have already begun at the shrine in which hundreds of devotees are taking part every day. These devotees are also performing ceremonies such as, first feeding to their infants and having them tonsured on the shrine premises.

Works like sprucing up the shrine and grotto on the hillock, widening the pathway to the grotto, putting up barricades from the shrine to the hillock and undertaking repairs to the road between the grotto and the holy cross atop the hillock, have been completed.

Roads

The managing committee of the shrine, with the help of devotees, has laid a wide road connecting the shrine and Eluru Road, while the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has taken up repairs to approach roads.

Grand Holy Mass will be held on all the three days on Bishop Grassi High School grounds. The city police will arrange an outpost on the grounds and the APSRTC will open an enquiry-cum-reservation counter for the convenience of pilgrims. The APSRTC is expected to announce its schedule of special buses for the festival soon.

Besides 450 police personnel and 25 traffic constables, guards from private security agencies and volunteers from the NSS will ensure the smooth conduct of the festival.

First aid

First aid centres and water kiosks will be arranged on the school grounds, shrine premises and near the grotto with the help of St. Ann's Hospital and the VMC. "We are making arrangements for 10 lakh pilgrims. But there will be no inconvenience even if the turnout is beyond our estimation," says P. Balaswamy, member of the shrine committee and director of the Social Service Centre (SSC). The SSC, on its part, is making arrangements for providing accommodation to pilgrims coming from distant places.

"Over five lakh pilgrims are expected to visit the shrine just on February 10, which is an auspicious day. Though the festival will conclude on February 11, pilgrims will continue to visit the shrine on the following day as well," says M. Balaswamy, rector of the shrine.

Train halts

The South Central Railway (SCR) is planning to halt passenger trains at Ramavarappadu station for four days. Passenger trains coming from Machilipatnam, Narsapur, Kakinada and Rajahmundry will have a special halt at the station. Special ticket booking counters will be opened at Ramavarappadu station and Vijayawada station.

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