On the fourth day of Dasara festival, hectic activity and rush was witnessed on Indrakeeladri, abode of goddess Kanaka Durga here on Friday. The presiding deity was decorated as Maha Lakshmi Devi.
The temple authorities cancelled antaralaya darshan in view of heavy rush and the devotees had to be contended with the laghu darshan. Serpentine queues were witnessed as the crowds swelled each hour.
The devotees thronged the ghats from early hours. They had a holy dip in the river Krishna, and joined the queue lines.
The heavy rush continued till afternoon, and dropped there after following a heavy rain. The queue lines wore deserted look in the evening as there was a steep fall in the rush. District Collector M. Buddha Prakash Jyothi has asked the officials to make necessary arrangements for Moola Nakshatram day. At a review meeting on Friday, he asked them to keep a stock of five lakh water sachets to distribute on Saturday as against the 2 lakh distributed every day. He also told them to keep water drums along the queue lines. The Collector stressed on the need to deploy additional staff on Saturday to ensure that there were no stampedes and untoward incidents. Temple Executive Officer M. Raghunath said that free darshan would be in place till 11p.m. of Saturday to clear the rush.
