'Nijarupa' darshan at Simhachalam to draw huge crowds

Visakhapatnam: Lakhs of devotees are expected to congregate at Simhachalam to witness 'Chandanotsavam' festival which is all set to commence from Monday midnight.

After a gap of two years, the officials are expecting large crowds to gain access to the rare 'nijarupa' darshan of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha. Keeping the expected crowd in view, the temple authorities have made elaborate arrangements for a hassle-free darshan to the devotees. To streamline the vehicular movement, the temple officials have made special arrangements for transport to Simhachalam uphill. In connection with this, except protocol vehicles, no other private vehicles are allowed atop the temple hillock. However, the Devasthanam has facilitated free transport to the devotees with the support of APSRTC from the foot of the hill to Simhachalam and vice-versa. With regard to this, 56 RTC buses, 65 air-conditioned buses for those who bought VIP tickets and devasthanam transport vehicles have been arranged to ferry people to the hill during the festival. Dedicated parking space has been facilitated at two points – Adavivaram junction and Ghosala junction. "After 6 pm on Tuesday, the bus service will be suspended from downhill to uphill. Similarly, the queue lines at the shrine will be closed by 7 pm the same day. Till then, whoever is there in the queue lines will have a darshan of 'Nijarupa'. Separate ramps are provided for common devotees," explains Devasthanam Executive Officer MV Surya Kala to The Hans India.

Sharing details of the darshan tickets, festival special officer D Bramaramba, says, "Apart from free darshan, devotees can opt for Rs 300, Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,200 for the darshan. Nearly 30,000 darshan tickets to the tune of Rs 300 each will be made available at the queue lines and at a few banks, including SBI and Union Bank of India and petrol bunks run by the Devasthanam. Approximately, we are expecting 3,600 devotees for darshan per hour."

However, the slot allotted for VVIPs has doubled this year. This did not go down well among the general public who would wait in the long queue lines to avail darshan.

Followed by the cabinet reshuffle and a large presence of chairpersons from various corporations and other departments, the protocol darshan has also seen an all-time high now.

Meanwhile, the temple authorities are considering all measures to begin the 'Nijarupa' darshan from the wee hours of Tuesday.

To manage the crowd, the service and support of various NGOs, scouts and guides, NCC cadets and NSS volunteers will also be considered.

In order to provide relief to the devotees from the scorching summer heat, efforts are taken to facilitate tents and carpets at the queue lines.

From 2 am, the Chandanotsavam rituals on Tuesday will continue till 9 pm and conclude with 'Sahasra Ghatabhishekam'.