As part of the Dasara Sarannavaratri festivities at the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam atop Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada, on Wednesday, the seventh day of the festival and the most auspicious day of Moola Nakshatram, a large number of devotees had darshan of goddess Durga Devi, who was in the attire of Sri Saraswathi Devi. The temple authorities allowed the devotees to have darshan from 12.50 AM.
On Wednesday, the authorities cancelled all special darshans and provided free darshan for all. As a result, it took four to five hours for the devotees to have darshan. As per the information from the temple officials, over 1.50 lakh devotees visited the temple on Wednesday.
The devotees believe it to be auspicious to visit the Durga temple on the day of Moola Nakshatram. All the queue lines from the Vinayaka Temple to the Uphill of the Durga temple were packed with devotees. Additionally, Bhavani devotees also visited the temple. The devotees chanted ‘Jai Bhavani’, and ‘Jai Durga Jai Jai Durga’.
Meanwhile, Minister for Home and Disaster Management Vangalapudi Anitha, Minister for Water Resources Nimmala Ramanaidu, Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath alias Chinni, and others visited the temple. The temple officials including Executive Officer (EO) KS Rama Rao and others arranged darshan for them. The ministers also interacted with the devotees.
Meanwhile, the devotees participated in many special pujas held at the Mallikharjuna Maha Mandapam. Besides, the temple authorities readied the Hamsa Vahanam with the support of the related departments to conduct the Teppotsavam on the final day of the festival.
NTR District Collector Dr G Srijana and Police Commissioner SV Rajasekhar Babu supervised the arrangements and facilities for the devotees. They spoke to the reporters at the media point and said that Revenue, Police, Endowments, Municipal and other departments made elaborate arrangements.
The temple authorities supplied drinking water, milk, and buttermilk to the devotees who were in the queue lines. NSS and Police Seva Dal volunteers extended their services to differently-abled people and senior citizens who were unable to take darshan by walking, they added. As per the calculation, as many as 7,000 devotees have been taking darshan of goddess Durga Devi per hour up to 11 am, they explained.
Temple earns Rs.3.39 crore
During the Dasara Sarannavaratri festivities, the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam has so far earned Rs.3.39 crore in income. In the previous year, the income was Rs.2.32 crore.
According to EO Rama Rao, Rs.1.42 crore in income was gained from the sale of Rs.500 darshan tickets, Rs.39.08 lakh from the sale of Rs.300 tickets and Rs.29.61 lakh from the sale of Rs.100 tickets, he said. Similarly, Rs.1.13 crore was earned from the sale of laddu Prasadam, he added.
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