Durga temple to serve butter milk for devotees during summer

Devotees visiting Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam, atop Indrakeeladri Hill will soon be greeted with some cooling buttermilk. Taking into account the hardships faced by devotees visiting the temples braving the scorching sun during summer, the temple executive officer Ch Narsinga Rao has directed temple authorities to provide buttermilk from April 1 to June 6 for the benefit of devotees.

Speaking to the Hans India on Wednesday, Temple EO Ch Narasinga Rao said that this is the first time such a move has been initiated by the temple and this will be a respite to devotees. “It's a way of helping devotees get through the summer. Buttermilk, apart from quenching thirst, is also good for health,” he says and added that it will be offered to the devotees from 9 am, every day from April 1.

Every day, around 200 liters of buttermilk laced with curry leaves, coriander, salt and asafoetida will be served free, and while the quantity will be doubled on Fridays and Sundays as the devotees flow would be high on these days. There is no limit on the number of glasses a person can have, according to the secretary.

However, the temple does not allow people to take away buttermilk in bottles. “If there are old people who cannot walk into the shelter, our volunteers will carry a glass out for them,” he says. As of now, we have decided the price of 40 litres butter milk gallon at Rs 750. The temple authorities are expecting 10 cans of butter milk that will be required to serve devotees during weekend, whereas on normal days it requires 5 cans of butter milk.

Donors and devotees, who are interested to contribute towards this initiative, can contact the temple authorities on the hill shrine. Donor details will be taken by the officials and his or her name would be written on board, he said. Listing out the other development activities to be taken on the temple premises, Narasinga Rao said that temple has been witnessing devotees rush from various parts of the State, after the city being designated as part of the capital, Amarvati.

There was no accurate machine to check the devotee’s attendance at the temple by the day. Proposals were sent to endowments commissioner and soon the initiative will be materialized. Biometric attendance will be introduced from April 1, to monitor duty hours of employees and to bring transparency in administration, he says.

Plans are also afoot by the temple administration to develop tourism circuit for the convenience of the devotees to visit nearby spiritual and tourist spots in and around the temple. Tourist guides will recruited soon by the temple on contract basis for the purpose, said EO Narasing Rao.