Pilgrims with wishlists poured into the Dargamitta area right from dawn to exchange rotis at the sprawling Swarnala Cheruvu on the second day of the Rottella Panduga here on Saturday.
Sandalwood paste was brought in huge pots by horsemen with reverence from the Kottamitta Kundala Dargah for the special rituals associated with the annual urs of Bara Shaheed Dargah to pay homage to 12 warriors who had been killed in a battle with the British troops in the 18th century by muzaveers led by Kadapa Dargah head Arifullah Mallick.
More than one lakh pilgrims had a holy dip in the water body filled with inflows from the Somasila reservoir by dusk and an equal number of devotees are expected to visit the Dargah coinciding with the Gandhamahotsavam at midnight, the main event of the five-day festival, said Prakasam Superintendent of Police B.Satyayesubabu, who is in charge of Nellore.
Swarnala Chervuvu and the Dargah were kept under electronic surveillance by installing 25 CCTV sets, he told The Hindu while overseeing the security arrangements at the ghats for people coming with different types of wishes like success in studies, a good job and marriage.
Children rescued
“We were able to unite about 50 children who went missing with their parents,” the SP said. Equipped with smart mobiles with automated fingerprints identification system (FINS), 75 police constables in plain clothes scanned the fingerprints of persons moving in a suspicious manner in the area and compared them with the huge digitilised database available at the command control centre to ensure a safe pilgrimage to devotees who had come from all over the State besides Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and some from abroad.
As a thanksgiving gesture, a satisfied devotee gives a roti to another devotee, who makes his own wish at the Dargah, and the chain continues year after year drawing more pilgrims cutting across religious lines to the Dargah.
