There was a huge rush at Chamundi Hills on Friday due to the Chamundeshwari Vardhanti and Ashada Shukravara falling on the same day.
Devotees started reaching the hill from the break of dawn and though a majority of them used the special bus services, there were many who climbed the hill to reach the temple.
The main temple and its surroundings were spruced up for the occasion by the Muzrai Department with the help of volunteers, while the interior of the Chamundeshwari temple were decorated with flowers.
The temple priests were kept busy as special rituals and prayers commenced from 4 a.m. The utsava murthy of Goddess Chamundeshwari was decorated with ornaments and flowers and placed in a golden palanquin.
The darshan timing was changed in view of special rituals and visitors were allowed entry into the temple only from 8.30 a.m. By then, the hill was teeming with a huge crowd and the queue had coiled around the road leading to the temple and merged with the special queue.
It also resulted in chaos as the crowd threatened to go out of control and break free of the barricades installed for orderly movement. The highlight of the vardhanti utsava was the idol of the goddess being taken out in a procession in the golden palanquin.
Security was beefed up for the occasion and there was a ban on movement of private vehicles to the hills.
