The students made a beeline to Indrakeeladri to participate in Vijayeebhava programme organised by Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam here on Tuesday.
The students turn out was far exceeding the estimates of the temple authorities. The temple ran out of stocks of pens by evening as the students continued to pour in even after 6 p.m.
The authorities estimated that 35,000 students would throng the shrine and made arrangements accordingly.
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They, however, ran out of pens by evening.
The authorities procured additional stock and about 40,000 visited the temple. The temple authorities distributed pens and photographs of presiding deity goddess Kanaka Durga to the students who had darshan of the deity.
The examination fever seemed to have gripped the students if the huge turn out were any indication.
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The students have turned up from early hours, and the rush continued till late evening. At a point of time, the queue line went up to Om turning and beyond.
The well-timed ritual, with several examinations round the corner, was a big draw, given the overwhelming response it received from the target groups.
The students and their parents began pouring in at the temple hours before the start of the ritual to secure the ‘pens, sacred threads’ etc., which were kept in front of the deity.
The temple precincts were jam packed with students of all age groups.
The Bhavani mandapam, atop Indrakeeladri, where the yagam was performed in the early hours was virtually invaded by them. Though the authorities announced that the students would have to come in uniform or carry identity cards, the staff on duty did not insist on it and allowed them to have free darshan.
At Trisakthi peetham near PNBS, the temple authorities performed Aksharabhyasam, initiation to world of letters, to about 300 children.