Authorities of the Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy temple have made special arrangement to ease the congestion for ‘Swargavasal' darshan during Vaikunta Ekadasi.
A view of Lord Ranganathar coming out of the ‘Swargavasal' after being taken out from the sanctum sanctorum through the ‘prakaram' inside the temple, forms the significance of the festival every year.
As the ‘darshan' takes place in the early hours of the day, a large number of devotees gather at the ‘prakarams' inside the temple in advance and wait for at least five hours to witness the holy ritual. “Women and aged persons find it difficult to wait for such a long time inside the temple. We will now set up a stone gallery in the open space between the Sri Dhanvanthiri shrine and the ‘Swargavasal' gate,” says S. Jayaraman, joint commissioner of the temple.
He said that a brick structure hindered the view of the ‘Swargavasal' darshan. “We demolished the brick structure and are constructing the gallery,” he added.
Preliminary work on setting up the stone structure commenced recently. He said that about 500 to 600 persons could be accommodated at the new venue.
“So far, only the lens men only could view the holy ‘Swargavasal' darshan. With the construction of this arena, aged persons and women with infants would benefit in a big way, he said. The architecture of the stone steps would not look new but would be on the lines of the ancient lines, he said.
