Visakhapatnam: The success of the annual festival ‘Chandanotsavam’ of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam largely depends on keeping the political involvement as minimal as possible. This was apparent in the previous festival editions organised by the Devasthanam.

However, this year, the government decided to involve a team of ministers for the smooth execution of the ‘Chandanotsavam.’

Officials from concerned departments are gearing up to make elaborate arrangements for the ‘Chandanotsavam’ scheduled on April 30.

Last year, Chandanotsavam turned out to be a huge success as there was no political protocol following the enforcement of the election code.

Along with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the annual festival draws political leaders from neighbouring states as well. However, the protocol darshan causes great inconvenience to the common devotees as they end up waiting for long hours in queue lines.

A few political leaders are accompanied by an army of followers for the darshan. This would further increase the waiting time for the common devotees. There were times devotees expressed their ire against the attitude of the political leaders during the festival.

On the other hand, the officials concerned have to go through enormous pressure during the annual festival as the demand for VVIP and VIP tickets go up.

Keeping the previous experiences in view, the government should take measures to minimise the political involvement during such festivals. However, this time, the scenario is being reversed.

In order to conduct the festival in a hassle free manner, the Andhra Pradesh government issued orders and the Commissioner of Endowments Department released standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines.

Earlier, the Commissioner requested the government to approve the SOP for the ‘Chandanotsavam’ festival, Simhachalam so that devotees can avail darshan conveniently in an incident-free manner, prevent any complication, provide better amenities to all devotees and thereby ensure smooth and peaceful celebrations of the festival.

Following which, the government issued orders to form a group of ministers comprising the Minister for Endowments, Revenue and Home, along with the District in-charge Minister to ensure smooth and successful conduct of the event.

Like every year, this year too, scores of devotees are expected to visit the temple to witness the ‘Nijarupa darshan’.

Keeping the major festival in view, Joint Commissioner D Bramaramba is designated as Chief Festival Officer from the part of Endowments for overall supervision.

The Chief Festival Officer is requested to coordinate with all the officials of participating departments to ensure smooth conduct of the festival. Further, Bramaramba will conduct meetings in coordination with the Devasthanam Executive Officer K Subba Rao and ready an action plan.

Withstanding the political pressure, how the authorities concerned are going to conduct the festival without causing inconvenience to the common devotees has to be seen.