VIJAYAWADA: Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam, Indrakeeladri, witnessed a rush of devotees on Monday as they were given ‘Bhavani Deeksha’ at the hill shrine. Deeksha will be conferred to devotees till November 22.
People from across the city, wearing red clothes, reached Durga Ghat on the second Monday of the auspicious Karthika month to take a holy dip in Krishna before taking ‘deeksha’.
Rituals like ‘Kumkumarchana’ were also performed in front of the processional deity on the occasion.
Temple Executive Officer V Koteswaramma said rituals like ‘Vigneswara Pooja’, ‘Kalash Sthapana’ and ‘Punyavachanam’ were performed at the shrine to mark the commencement of the 41-day long ‘Bhavani Deeksha’.
The rituals began at 8 am and continued for over two hours on the first day. Devotees who took the ‘deeksha’ on Monday should relinquish it at the temple between December 29 and January 2, 2019, the temple EO said.
“We are expecting around ten lakh Bhavani devotees to come to Indrakeeladri for relinquishing their deeksha this year. To ensure a hassle-free darshan for the devotees, the devasthanam has chalked out a plan of action. Relinquishment for devotees of Telangana and Rayalaseema will be performed on December 30 and 31, followed by Northern Andhra, Guntur, and East and West Godavari districts on December 31 and January 1, 2019. Krishna district devotees are requested to come to the hill shrine on January 2, 2019,” the EO said.