Vijayawada: Durga temple turns red with Bhavani devotees
Bhavani devotees braving the rain to have Goddess Kanaka Durga darshan atop Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada on Thursday
Vijayawada (NTR District): The Indrakeeladri turned red with large number of Bhavanis flocking Goddess Durga temple on Thursday. Even as the 10-day Dasara festivities conclude, the Bhavanis rush is increasing day by day.
On the 10th day of the festivities, on Vijayadasami on Wednesday a large number of devotees and Bhavnis had Goddess' Darshan. On Thursday also, thousands of Bhavanis thronged the temple from across the State, mainly north Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. Above one lakh devotees from Andhra and Telangana States rushed to Vijayawada to worship the presiding deity.
However, due to the incessant rains, Bhavani devotees faced inconvenience and many of them were drenched on Thursday. Despite that, they waited in the queue with wet clothes and shivering to have the Goddess' Darshan.
NTR District Collector S Dilli Rao interacted with the Bhavanis and enquired about the arrangements. A devotee, V Satyavathi from Mandasa village of Srikakulam district, told the Collector that she had a beautiful darshan experience this year compared to previous years. She thanked the Collector for providing a peaceful darshan of the Goddess.
The 10-day Dasara festivities atop Indrakeeladri were concluded on Wednesday with Poornahoothi. Lakhs of devotees across the State and neighbouring States flocked the temple. It was estimated that this year around 10 lakh devotees had Goddess Durga darshan during the 10-day festivities.
Apart from small incidents on the 7th day, the day of Moola Nakshatram of the festivities, all the days were concluded peacefully. On the 10th day of Vijayadasami, TDP Supremo and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu worshipped the presiding deity, who was adorned as 'Sri Raja Rajeswari Devi'. After having darshan, Naidu said that they undertook many development works atop Indrakeeladri at a cost of Rs 150 crore during his regime. He wished that development works would continue. Reacting over the Capital issue, he said that they started Amaravati Capital with all the political parties approval.
Tourism Minister RK Roja also had the Goddess' darshan
on Wednesday.