VIJAYAWADA: Controversies hogged the limelight at Goddess Kanaka Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri. On the seventh day of the festivities, Vijayawada Central Constituency MLA and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board member Bonda Umamaheswara Rao left the hill shrine in a huff alleging that he was humiliated by the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Devasthanam officials.
On Tuesday morning, Rao reached the hill shrine to offer traditional silk robes to Goddess Kanaka Durga on behalf of the TTD. But before he could arrive to the temple, TTD Assistant Executive Officer (ASO) Sailoo offered the silk robes to the Goddess. This irked the legislator no less and he rushed out of the temple premises alleging humiliation. However, the TTD AEO maintained that as per protocol, it was he who should offer silk robes to the Goddess.
Chaos prevailed for a while when the MLA’s supporters and temple trust board members objected to the attitude of temple officials. Intervening in the issue, Executive Officer V Koteswaramma said AEO Sailoo has brought the silk robes to the Goddess on behalf of TTD and she wasn’t aware that the MLA’s visit.
As per information received, an order was issued by the TTD stating that AEO will offer the silk robes to the Goddess and the temple authorities had acted accordingly, Koteswaramma added.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, temple trust board chairperson Y Gouranga Babu was again prevented from entering the temple with his family members. Koteswaramma asked Babu to purchase tickets and join the queue lines along with common devotees.
Humiliated, Gouranga Babu expressed his anger towards the temple EO after which she took chairperson and his family members inside the temple. However after darshan, the chairperson convened an emergency board meeting to discuss about Koteswaramma’s attitude, but dropped his proposal as a majority of the board members were away from the temple.
It may be noted he and his family members were stopped by the police and told to stand in queue lines by purchasing tickets on Monday.
Sixth day of Navaratri
Around 1.3 lakh devotees visited Goddess Kanaka Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri on the sixth day of Dasara festival on Tuesday. The Goddess was adorned as Sri Mahalakshmi Devi and the temple was open from the early hours of the day. As Tuesday is considered auspicious, the temple witnessed heavy rush of devotees. DGP RP Thakur, who bought Rs 500 queue tickets, Endowments Commissioner M Padma and others had darshan of the Goddess.