Poor turnout was witnessed on the second day of ‘Bhavani deeksha viramana(relinquishment), in the city on Wednesday.
According to a rough estimate, about 40,000 Bhavani devotees thronged Indrakeeladri, abode of goddess Kanaka Durga. Devotees performing giri pradakshina (circumambulation of Indrakeeladri), were also few in numbers.
Wearing red robes, devotees thronged the temple where priests conferred ‘deeksha’ on them. Most of them took a holy dip in the River Krishna at Krishnaveni Ghat before proceeding to the temple. Shower baths were arranged at the ghat. Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam authorities arranged four homa gundams, but hardly any rush was witnessed at Arjuna Veedhi.
Compared to last year, the second day rush dipped to half. More than one lakh devotees visited the temple during Bhavani deeksha last year, temple officials say.
Notwithstanding thin rush, the temple authorities rationed the sale of laddu prasadam. Each devotee got only two laddus.
Unlike in past, devotees had to purchase laddu tickets before going for darshan. The laddus were sold at the end of exit of the queue line. Laddu prasadam was not available to the devotees who did not purchase the tickets in advance. In fact, the devotees’ rush was not impressive on the first day itself as it happened to be Tuesday.
A clear picture would emerge on Thursday. The relinquishment concludes on Saturday with purnahuti. The officials blame it on demonetisation. However, two pushkarams — river Godavari and Krishna— and drought, etc, are also said to be some of the other reasons. Police also imposed restrictions on free movement of people at One Town. The residents had to take circuitous routes to reach their destinations.
