Mukkoti Ekadasi celebrated with fervour

Eluru/Dwaraka Tirumala: Devotees thronged various temples on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi (Mukkoti) in West Godavari district and performed special pujas in the temples.

The famous pilgrim centre Dwaraka Tirumala was flooded with devotees from the early hours of Sunday.

Dwaraka Tirumala Devasthanam Trust Board chairman SV Sudhakara Rao performed special puja to the presiding deity Lord Sri Venkateswara at 4.30 am.
Devotees in huge numbers were seen eagerly waiting for the commencement of ‘Uttara Dwara Darshan’.

The temple authorities allowed the devotees to have the Uttara Dwara Darshan from 4.30 am itself.

Hundreds of devotees had the darshan and offered prayers to the Lord Venkateswara. The temple’s main priest Rambabu and other priests performed pujas to the Lord who rode on Garuda
Vahana.

Elaborate arrangements have been made by the temple authorities to ensure smooth darshan of the deity. Apart from the VIP queue, three separate queue lines were arranged for the pilgrims, Free darshan queue, Rs 100 queue, and Rs 300 queue.

State Chief Electoral Officer S Bhanwar Lal along with his family members was one of the few early comers to the temple. Temple EO Vendra Trinadha Rao along with priests welcomed the CEC with temple honours. Bhanwar Lal spent over an hour at the temple and offered prayers to the Lord Venkate-swara.

Speaking on the occasion, the EO Vendra Trinadha Rao said that the Uttaradwara Darshan had begun at 4.30 am and lasted until 4.30 pm. Nearly 8,000 pilgrims had the darshan of the deity, he said.

At Eluru, temples were flooded with devotees from the early hours. In Ramachandra Rao pet Venkateswara Temple, devotees queued up from 4 am to have a Uttara Dwara Darshan.

In One Town area, devotees offered prayers in Janardhana Swami temple located in Agraharam area and had ‘Uttara Dwara Darshan’. All the temples wore a festive look with colourful lighting on the occasion of Mukkoti Ekadashi.