VIJAYAWADA: Devotees in good numbers thronged Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam, atop Indrakeeladri hill, on Sunday to participate in the ‘Suprabhata Arjitha Seva’ of Goddess Kanaka Durga.
Amid recitation of vedic hymns, Temple Vedic Committee members performed ‘Abhishekam’ for the presiding deity from 3 am to 4 am with water brought from Krishna river. Coinciding with one of the auspicious Sundays in the Karthika month, Bhavani and Ayyappa devotees in and around the city made a beeline for having darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga.
Temple Executive Officer (EO) V Koteswaramma said that as per Hindu tradition, worshipping the goddess in ‘Brahma Muhurtham’ will provide good health and prosperity to the devotees. Over the decades, the temple priests performed the ‘Suprabhata Arjitha Seva for the goddess and allowed devotees to have darshan later. But from this year, the devasthanam has decided to allow the devotees to witness the ritual from the Mukha Mandapam, on the lines of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), she said. The devotees can participate in the ritual by availing Rs 300 darshan tickets between 3 am and 4 am daily.
In the evening, Koteswaramma convened a meeting with Guru Bhavanis and temple authorities and discussed the arrangements to be made for conducting the ‘Bhavani Deeksha’ viramana from December 27 to January 2, 2019 at the hill shrine. The EO called upon the employees to arrange for special bins at various places to prevent the Bhavani devotees from dumping their deeksha clothes in Krishna river. The devasthanam has been making elaborate arrangements to provide various facilities for the Bhavani devotees at Pandit Nehru Bus Station and a vacant land of the TTD near Kummaripalem Centre, she said.