Vijayawada: Sea of devotees throng Durga shrine atop hill

Vijayawada : A sea of devotees thronged Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Devasthanam atop Indrakeeladri to have a glimpse of Goddess Kanaka Durga who blessed the pilgrims in Goddess Sri Saraswathi Devi Avatar on the auspicious occasion of Moola Nakshatram on Friday. Devotees across two Telugu states and other neighbouring states had started to reach the city on Thursday night to have hassle-free darshan of the goddess. Consequently, all the queue lines were filled to capacity and the police had to control the devotees by ropes. Keeping in mind of this heavy rush, the authorities allowed the devotees to have the goddess Sarasawathi Darshan from early morning 1.30 am.

Since then, almost throughout the day, all the queue lines witnessed a heavy turn up of the pilgrims. Around 2 lakh devotees visited the temple and worshipped the goddess on the Moola Nakshatra day. Owing to cancellation of all the VIP and Protocol darshan, the devotees could have the darshan within 2 to 4 hours. Pandit Nehru Bus Station, city bus stops, railway station and all the streets in the city were bustled with a huge congregation of devotees. Meanwhile, the authorities concerned such as Police, Revenue, Endowments and Municipal have taken special measures in view of the Moola Nakshatram.

NTR district collector S Dilli Rao reached the temple by 12 midnight to oversee the Moola Nakshatra arrangements. He also took all the keys of the temple premises which are destined to allow the devotees to have the darshan for avoiding entry to the VIP and other devotees who wish to enter the temple by defying the rules.

Meanwhile, Vijayawada Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata also gave strict instructions to police personnel who were deployed for the duties. He directed the police personnel to strive for providing hassle-free darshan to the devotees.

The CP urged the police to be polite with pilgrims and not to be harsh towards them. On the other hand, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation authorities also worked hard throughout the day. Municipal Commissioner Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar instructed the sanitation and all the concerned persons to maintain cleanliness of the queue lines, ghats and roads.