Thousands of devotees from various parts of the State thronged Simhachalam temple to witness the ‘Nijaroopa Darshan’ of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, on the occasion of Chandanotsavam, here on Friday.
People trying to board bus after darshan at Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam on Friday. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU
Keeping in view the previous year’s experience , the district officials in coordination with the police department, Endowment and Simhachalam Devasthanam officials have made elaborate arrangements for the annual festival. The officials successfully ensured free movement of devotees in queue lines including the free darshan. District Collector A. Mallikarjuna supervised the arrangements at the temple. Moreover, lack of ‘antaralaya darshan’ and protocol darshan due to the election code comes as a huge relief for the common devotees this year.
As a traditional way, the first darshan was offered to the Trustees (dharmakarthas) former Union Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju and family, who offered special prayers to the deity. State Government’s Endowment department Commissioner Rama Satyanarayana and Simhachalam Devasthanam EO Srinivasa Murthy offered ‘Pattu Vasthras’ to the deity. During the early hours of the day, even free darshan did not take more than an hour, while ticket holders of ₹1,500 and ₹1,000 had darshan in less than an hour. Later, more number of devotees came for darshan.
Sarada Peetham pontiff Swami Swaroopananda, who had criticised the officials for not making proper arrangements last year, praised the authorities for their work this year, after having a darshan during early hours.
To prevent breakdown of vehicles, the officials have allowed only 90 buses (50 RTC buses and 40 mini buses), while there was no entry for private vehicles. Separate parking places were provided for two/three/four-wheelers both at Adavivaram and Goshala. A command control room was set up atop hill, while senior IPS officers were deputed at various places to monitor the flow of the traffic as well as the queue lines.
“The arrangements were very good. Most importantly, the movement in the queue lines was free. Though the queue lines were increased, there was no trouble,” said J. Gopal Krishna from Tuni.
The devotees also expressed happiness over supply of water, buttermilk and prasadam in the queue lines.
Some of the devotees said officials should have increased the number of RTC buses to the hill. Moreover, devotees had a sigh of relief as the climate was also better compared to the last few days.
