Thousands of devotees from across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka thronged the Sri Vayulingeswara temple at Srikalahasti, known as the ‘Rahu Ketu Kshetra’ and ‘Dakshin Kailash’, for Maha Shivaratri darshan.
The crowds started swelling at the famous Saivite centre from Friday midnight. As the Maha Shivaratri coincided with Sani Thryayodasi, a phenomenon happening after a hiatus of sixty years, the surge of devotees was unprecedented. Enthusiasm also gripped the devotees this year as the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which lasted for three years, was lifted.
The general queue lines stretched to more than two kilometres outside the temple. The locals said that it was for the first time that they had seen such serpentine queue lines. The paid darshan tickets queue line also swelled notably.
Thousands of people lined up along the temple streets to witness the ‘Nandi Seva’, with a procession of the deities, scheduled the night before ‘Lingodbhava darshan’. Devotees who wanted to perform the ‘Rahu Ketu’ pooja had a tough time due to heavy demand and paucity of space inside the temple complex.
The temple authorities kept inspecting the arrangements around the clock. Over one thousand police personnel were drafted for bandobast duties.
Tourist footfall
Meanwhile, the scenic Talakona falls had witnessed a crowd of over three lakhs. The fervent devotees had a bath at the waterfalls at several hillock temples, including Kailasakona, Sadasiva Kona and Nagalapuram falls in the Tirupati district.
The Kapilatheertham temple at Tirupati drew over two lakh devotees. The APSRTC plied special services and cleared the crowds at bus stations promptly. Voluntary organizations and spiritual groups distributed Anna Prasadams to the devotees at Srikalahasti, Tirupati, Chittoor, Palamaner, Kuppam, and Madanapalle.
At Moghili temple near Bangarupalem, thousands of devotees turned up to have the darshan of the presiding deity.
