Vijayawada: Dasara celebrations begin on grand note

Vijayawada: Dasara celebrations started in a big way at Kanaka Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri here on Thursday. On the first day, the presiding deity blessed the devotees in Sri Bala Tripura Sundari Devi avataram. Several ministers and officials offered prayers to Durga Devi.

Minister for Endowments Anam Ramnarayana Reddy inaugurated the Navaratri festival along with Minister for Housing Kolusu Parthasarathy. Later, both the ministers went round the temple to inspect the arrangements made for devotees.

Speaking to media, Anam Ramnarayana Reddy said officials of all departments should coordinate with one another for successful conduct of the celebrations. The minister said priority will be given to common devotees and five queue lines were arranged. He said the Harathi programme will be conducted daily at Krishna river ghat throughout the festival.

Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy released an audio cassette of Durga Bhavani. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said officials should monitor the situation at ground level to prevent inconvenience to devotees. He said arrangements have been made to provide Darshan to each and every devotee in a comfortable manner.

District collector G Srujana said that VIP Darshan will be provided from 8 am to 10 am and from 2 pm to 4 pm. She said for senior citizens and physically challenged, Darshan will be provided from 4 pm to 5 pm daily.

Temple executive officer KS Rama Rao said arrangements have been made for Darshan of presiding deity to each and every devotee. Several MLAs including Vijayawada West MLA Sujana Chowdary, Kamineni Srinivas and others offered prayers at the temple on the first day.