Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Cynosure of all eyes at Indrakeeladri

–PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR

A priest with long hair from Rasoolgudem village in Kattangur mandal of Nalgonda district paying a visit to Sri Kanakadurga Durga temple in Vijayawada on Monday.

VIJAYAWADA: Devotees at Sri Durgamalleswara Swamy Dewasthanam temple on Indrakeeladri had a sudden surprise on Monday morning when they queued up for darshan.

The five-foot locks of hair of a priest suddenly distracted the devotees in the queue and attention went on to the unique looking B. Devudi Lingayya, who had come to the temple to have a darshan of the goddess. Neatly dressed and arranging his hair like a massive Rajasthani turban, people clicked his pictures and followed him right from the foothill.

A purohit at the Yellamma Temple in Rasoolgudem in Kattangur mandal of Nalgonda district, later talking to The Hindu said he had begun growing his hair when he was 12-year-old. Now he is 35 and continues his profession of offering prayers at Yellamma Gudi. When he opened the turban like hair, it touched the ground and it measured about 5 feet. Asked how he took care of the hair locks, Devudi Lingayya said he regularly applied ‘kunkudu' (soap nut) juice and occasionally shampoo to clean hair and was helped by his wife and five sons. It was no mean task to keep the hair healthy applying oil occasionally, but major parts had got entangled looked smudges of black hair.

Keeping pace with the technology, he conversed over his state-of-the-art cellular phone to keep date with devotees' requests from his home town. As soon as he finished darshan he left for his home town.

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