Over 60,000 devotees visited the Sri Bhramarambika Mallikarjuna Swamy temple in Srisailam on the first Sunday of the Kartika Masam.
Temple officials said that they expect the number to rise significantly in the coming days, once the temple starts conducting special pujas.
Keeping in mind the large number of devotees, authorities have changed the opening time of the temple. On Sunday, the temple gates were opened at 3.30 am, and devotees were let in from 4.30 a.m.
Temple Executive Officer K.S. Rama Rao has been conducting regular inspections of the arrangements. He spoke to devotees waiting in queues to ascertain if there were any issues. The rest of the temple staff have also been issued special duties to accommodate the devotees.
Transport concerns
The ongoing TSRTC strike seems to have hit the arrivals at Srisailam, officials said. Speaking to The Hindu , a temple officer, requesting anonymity, said that there were about 30 regular buses of TSRTC plying to Srisailam from Hyderabad and Warangal.
“About 10 to 20 special busses were also operated by the TSRTC during Karthika Masam,” the officer said. “Moreover, there has been a significant increase in the number of people coming by car,” said the officer.
However, with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao giving an ultimatum to TSRTC, the temple authorities are hoping that the strike would end soon.
Considering that the strike ends on Tuesday, the authorities expect to receive over one lakh devotees on important days.
Today’s events
Authorities will conduct a ‘Laksha Deepotsavam’ and ‘Pushkariniharathi’ on Monday. These events would be conducted on all four Mondays as well as on auspicious Karthika Pournami day (Full Moon).
