Thousands of devotees throng Sangameshwaram

Celestial wedding of Sri Lalita Sangameshwara Swamy conducted

Atmakuru (Kurnool) : The celestial wedding of Sri Lalita, Sangameswara Swamy was conducted in a grand manner in the sanctum sanctorum of Sangameswara Kshetram here on Monday under the aegis of Executive Officer Kamalar and chief priest Telakapalli Raghuram Sarma as part of the Pushkaram to the confluence of Tungabhadra and Krishnaveni rivers along with the underlying river Saraswati. It is estimated that about 30,000 devotees had taken holy bath at the confluence on the eleventh day of Pushkaram on Monday.

The devotees, after taking holy bath in the river, worshipped Sri Lalita Sangameswara Swamy and paid obeisance to the presiding deity. The Vedic pundits performed all the necessary rituals like Punyaha Vachanam, Nandi Vachanam, Sapta Matruka Puja and Kankadharana. Finally, the priests performed Kanya Danam and the devotees sprinkled sacred rice on the divine couple. POOR FACILITIES; In spite of the huge gathering at the confluence of rivers, the government had failed to make necessary arrangements right from transportation to taking holy dip in the river. Historically, the place is called Saptanadi Sangameshwaram since this is a confluence of seven rivers � Krishna, Veni, Tunga, Bhadra, Mallapaharini, Bhimarati and Bhavanashani.

Since the Pushkaram was started on May 31, the government hardly made any arrangements for the devotees. For the first few days, the rush was moderate. But for the last five days, the rush of devotees had enormously increased with people thronging from all over the State. The devotees have been facing lot of troubles to reach Sangameshwaram. The devotees from Kurnool and other districts would reach Nandikotkuru and to Mucchumarri before embarking on walking for seven kilometers to reach Sangameshwaram. People from Guntur, Prakasam and Nandyala would reach Atmakuru and from there to Kottapallem, Erramadam Maleswaram to reach Sangameshwaram.

The transportation system is very poor in all these routes, says Sri Veena of Done. The devotees flay the government for not taking necessary arrangements for their transport. There were no facilities for women devotees to change dress after taking holy bath in the river, Deepti and Lakshmi Devi both from Nandyala remarked. Chief priest Telakapalli Raghuram Sarma said that the officials after inaugurating the Pushkaram have totally forgotten about it. Referring to the presence of the State information commissioner Gangadhar during inauguration, he said that he has totally ignored the necessity of facilities for the devotees.