To make the annual Chandanotsavam, the only day on which devotees worship presiding deity of Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Nrusimha Swamy in his “nijarupa”, as smooth as possible, authorities promise to attach top priority for darshan of ordinary devotees on Tuesday.
Over 1.25 lakh devotees are estimated to worship the deity on that day. In 2014 the event witnessed a turn out of 1.1 lakh. To accelerate the darshan, the capacity of the four queue lines has been increased from 16,000 to 20,000.
The event begins with hereditary trustee Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju offering silk vastrams to the deity and making the first darshan in the small hours of Tuesday.
All through the day the devotees queue up for the darshan.
Answering criticism that VIP and protocol darshans were making devotees, who bought tickets, wait in the queue for a longer time testing their patience and resulting in protests, Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao said, “Ordinary devotees will have as much priority as VIPs. Even as VIPs are having the darshan, the general queue will also be allowed.”
