New Year Day on Sunday witnessed a moderate turnout of pilgrims at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara.
Thousands of devotees, who had assembled in front of the main temple complex the previous night, welcomed the New Year amidst chanting of “Govinda, Govinda” as the priests opened the gargantuan doors of the temple minutes after the zero hour. Devotees lighted camphor and offered ‘harati’ to the main gopuram.
Pre-dawn rituals inside the temple like Thiruppavai, Thomala and Archana were observed in ‘ekantham’ and the temple doors opened for pilgrims as early as 2.40 a.m. Those in the protocol categories and other VIPs were allowed to have darshan from the Ramulavari meda – ie., half-way inside the sanctum sanctorum.
The entire temple complex and its interiors were colourfully illuminated and tastefully decorated with aromatic flowers. Though elaborate arrangements were made the pilgrim turnout was not on expected lines.
While officials attributed it to the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festival scheduled for next Sunday, critics charged the management with overplaying the crowd factor.
“A deterrent”
The oft-repeated statements in regard to the suspension of “Arjitha sevas” and other privileged darshan formats, like those being extended to the senior and special citizens, seem to have deterred devotees with children from taking up the visit to the sacred town. The unheralded release of special darshan tickets late on Saturday evening came as a pleasant respite to those who came without planning for it.
