VIJAYAWADA: Thousands of devotees came for darshan of the presiding deity Kanaka Durga atop Indrakeeladri in Sri Gayatri Devi avatar on the third day of the ongoing Dasara festivities. According to the temple authorities, around 65,000 devotees visited the temple till 6 pm. In the form of darshanam tickets, sale of prasadam and other services, the temple received a total revenue of Rs 23.6 lakh.
Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan, along with his family, visited the temple and offered special prayers to the goddess on Tuesday. Officials welcomed them with temple honours and presented a portrait of the goddess and laddu prasadam. He enquired about the arrangements and told officials to conduct the festival smoothly. YSRCP general secretary and Chief Minister’s programme coordinator, Talasila Raghuram also offered special prayers.
Temple engineering officials rectified some queue lines after receiving complaints from devotees. “We arranged a few emergency exit gates in the ‘free darshan’ queue lines. Devotees requested us to provide water packets at some points. Officials concerned were instructed to provide them,” executive officer (EO) MV Suresh Babu said. On Monday night, a police constable staged protest half-naked against his department and Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivas Rao, as he was insulted by the henchmen of the minister.
Details till 6 pm
Total pilgrim visited temple: 65,000
Annadanam packets: 10,550
Free prasadam distributed: 1,050 kg
Income generated
Rs 300 tickets: Rs 8.7 lakh
Rs 100 tickets: Rs 5.5 lakh
Laddu prasadam sale: Rs 5.58 lakh
Pulihora prasadam sale: Rs 1.12 lakh
Other poojas and services: Rs 2.7 lakh
Total income: Rs 23.6 lakh