Vijayawada: Navaratri festival on Indrakeeladri from today

Vijayawada: Already 74,000 tickets for the darshan of the presiding deity of Indrakeeladri were sold online and only 1,500 tickets were left, announced Pyla Sominaidu, chairman of the Kanakadurga Temple Trust Board.

Addressing the media on the sixth floor at Mallikarjuan Mahamandapam on Friday, Pyla Sominaidu along with executive officer MV Suresh Babu appealed to the devotees to strictly follow the Covid-19 guidelines including wearing mask, following social distance and hand sanitisation while visiting the temple.

The Trust board chairman said that the devotees could book the rest of the 1,500 tickets which are available. All arrangements were in place for the smooth darshan of the presiding deity for the devotees during Navaratrulu.

He announced that the temple of Lord Siva which had been under renovation for the last one year would be thrown open to the devotees from Saturday.

EO Suresh Babu said that the devotees who booked tickets online should bring identity cards while visiting the temple for darshan. In case they could not secure online tickets, they could obtain the tickets at the counters at Punnami Ghat or Madapati Satram.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would present silk saree to the presiding deity Goddess Kanakadurga on the day of Mula Nakshatram.

Referring to the darshan for the VIPs, the EO said that the VIPs would be allowed from 7 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 5 pm every day. He said that even the VIPs also should book the tickets online and they could visit the temple for darshan as per the time slot.

Director of State Institute for Temple Administration (SITA) Ramachandra Rao, chief priest Lingambhotla Durga Prasad, Trust Board members Busireddi Subbayamma, N Ambika, Puli Chandrakala, Kanugula Venkataramana and N Satish were also present.