Chandrbabau Naidu, family members worship Goddess on Indrakeeladri

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrbabau Naidu presented silk clothes to Goddess Kanaka Durga at Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri on behalf of the state government on Sunday, the day of auspicious Mula Nakshatram.

As part of the tradition, the Chief Minister presented silk clothes and offered special prayers for the well being of the people of Andhra Pradesh. The presiding deity gave darshan to devotees as Saraswati Devi on Sunday, the fifth day of the Navaratri celebrations, which started on October 10.

Chandrababu Naidu arrived at the temple with wife N Bhuvaneswari, daughter-in-law Brahmani and grandson Devansh. Krishna District Collector B Lakshmikantham, temple trust board chairman Y Gauranga Babu, Executive officer V Koteswaramma, temple priests and staff welcomed the Chief Minister with Purna Kumbham. Continuing the tradition, he presented  silk clothes to the Goddess and offered special prayers.

Later, interacting with the reporters at the media point, Chandrababu Naidu said that he was delighted to present Pattu Vastralu to the Goddess on behalf of the State government. He said that he prayed for the blessings of the Goddess to complete the Polavaram Project, interlinking of rivers in the State and for improving the living standards of the people. He said, “I prayed for the speedy completion of Polavaram and other projects, construction of the new capital and to transform the State into a knowledge hub.”

Asked about the Durga temple development, he said the temple revenue is Rs 108 crore and expenditure is Rs 86 crore. He said the Durga temple is spending Rs 8 crore for Dasara celebrations. He said the revenue of Durga temple is very less compared to the TTD, which has fixed deposits of Rs 10,000 crore, said Naidu.

He said number of devotees visiting the Durga temple increased compared to the last year. He said the temple administration, district administration and police are working in co-ordination for the successful conduct of Dasara celebrations. He said arrangements have been made for one or two days stay for devotees in Vijayawada after the darshan at Durga temple.

He said the district administration is conducting cultural programmes on downstream of Prakasam barrage and setting up food stalls to promote tourism and attract tourists. Minister for Water Resources Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, MLA Jaleel Khan, MLC Buddha Venkanna and others were present on the occasion.