Temples of Sri Venkateswara Swamy in the city witnessed long queues of devotees from the early hours of Thursday on the auspicious occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi, which is also known as Mukkoti Ekadasi.
The devotees chanted ‘Govinda’ as they moved patiently in the queues. The authorities made elaborate arrangements to regulate the rush of devotees in view of the pandemic threat. Devotees were not allowed to wait inside the temple and were asked to move on quickly so that others waiting behind them could also have darshan, without much delay.
Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam was illuminated and decorated with flowers of different hues. Devotees were allowed to have Vaikunta Dwara darshan from 5 a.m.
Sri Bhu Sametha Vijaya Venkateswara Swamy temple at Appayya Nagar on the Marripalem National Highway witnessed a large number of devotees right from the early hours. The Vaikunta Dwaram (northern entry to the temple) was opened for darshan at around 5 a.m. The authorities arranged two separate lines, one with ₹20 and the other ₹50 entry ticket. The queue lines were properly organised and announcements were made frequently asking devotees to wear masks in view of the virus threat and asking them to leave the temple premises as soon as they had darshan.
The Vaibhava Venkateswara Swamy temple at NGOs’ Colony, near Muralinagar, attracted a large number of devotees.
Devotees had ‘Uttara Dwara darshan’ at Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple, an adopted temple of Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi temple, at Maharanipeta (near Jagadamba Junction) from 5 a.m. A large number of devotees had darshan right from the early hours.
Temple Executive Officer S.J. Madhavi, temple trust Chairperson Kolli Simhachalam, trustees B. Satya Roopavani, M. Dhanalatha, Anuradha, B. Venkataratnam, S. Satish, Maruti Prasad and N.V.S.S. Subrahmanyam, Deputy Executive Engineer Ch. V. Ramana and Assistant Executive Engineer P. Rama Rao were present.
