Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

‘Bhavanis’ outnumber regulars

VIJAYAWADA: The devotees of goddess Kanakadurga who undertook ‘Bhavani Deeksha’ and reached Indrakeeladri to conclude it, outnumbered the regular pilgrims on the 10th and concluding day of Dasara festivities on Thursday.

The ‘Bhavanis’, as they are called, began reaching the town late on Wednesday and their rush continued till Thursday afternoon. Since early hours of the day, all the bathing ghats were filled with the ‘Bhavanis’, who were conspicuous in their red robes and wearing special ‘Bhavani malas.’

As several of them alighted from tourist buses and other four-wheelers, the stretch on National Highway-5 between Krishnalanka Fire Station and Seetammavaari Paadaalu ghat turned into a parking space for the vehicles. The tourist buses had to be parked on either side of the road. As the crowd was unprecedented, Sub-Collector Gaurav Uppal and Police Commissioner K.V. Rajendranath Reddy personally monitored crowd management on the hillock and at the ghat road from Wednesday night to the early hours of Thursday.

By Thursday afternoon, there was a drop in the rush and the pilgrims were able to complete their darshan in an hour. The officials were, however, expecting the rush of ‘Bhavanis’ for the next three days and making arrangements for the same. The goddess was adorned as ‘Sri Rajarajeswari Devi’ on the last day of the festival.

The darshan began in the early hours of the day and there was a heavy rush of pilgrims in the morning hours. There was a stampede-like situation at Durga ghat and the officials advised many pilgrims to go either to Seetammavaari Paadalu ghat or Bhavani ghat for a holy dip or shower.

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