Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Durgashtami too witnesses heavy rush

— PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

Devotional offering: A necklace worth Rs. 8 lakhs presented by film producer K. Atchi Reddy being offered to the processional deity of goddess Kanakadurga on Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada on Saturday.

VIJAYAWADA: The heavy turnout of pilgrims to Kanakadurga temple atop Indrakeeladri that began on Friday on the occasion of ‘Moola Nakshatram’ continued till Saturday afternoon.

The darshan that was facilitated from 3 a.m. on Friday was continued without a break till 8 a.m. on Saturday.

After suspending the darshan for about an hour and a half, the temple priests adorned the presiding deity as Sri Durga Devi on the occasion of Durgashtami, the eighth day of the festivities, and resumed the darshan from 9.30 a.m.

The pilgrim rush was heavy till the afternoon and there was only a slight drop in the later hours.

The temple authorities and the police made adequate arrangements so that no problem would crop up at the bathing ghats and in the queue lines as well.

As plying of the special vehicles for the aged and the physically challenged were cancelled for the second consecutive day, senior citizens who wanted to visit the temple during the auspicious ‘Moola Nakshatram’ trekked the hillock.

Pilgrims joined the long queue from the early hours of the day to have a darshan of the goddess when she was in the form of ‘Sri Saraswati Devi.’

It took more than three hours for the pilgrims who opted for free darshan to reach the temple in the morning hours.

In all, about one lakh people visited the temple on Saturday.

The VIP rush too was significant on Saturday.

Notable among them were Narsapur MP Kanumuri Bapiraju and film producer K. Atchi Reddy. Mr. Reddy presented a pearl necklace worth Rs. 8 lakhs to the goddess.

The goddess would be adorned as ‘Sri Mahishasura Mardhini Devi’ on Sunday and ‘Sri Raja Rajeswari Devi’ on Monday.

Arrangements were being made for the colourful ‘teppotsavam’, the celestial boat ride of the goddess and her consort, in the Krishna on Monday evening.

The officials decided to continue the same arrangements and security keeping in view the rush of devotees who had taken ‘Bhavani Deeksha’.

A large number of these ‘deeksha’ followers had been coming in for the past couple of days, contributing to the rise in the pilgrim rush.

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