VIJAYAWADA: The 10-day Dasara festivities at Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) atop Indrakeeldari ended on a grand note with the celestial boat ride of Goddess Kanaka Durga and Lord Malleswara Swamy (Lord Shiva) in River Krishna on Tuesday evening.
According to the temple authorities, as many as 17.7 lakh devotees visited the temple during the festival. The seventh day of Navaratri or on Moola Nakshatram, when the goddess was adorned in Sri Saraswati Devi alankaram, recorded the highest devotee footfall of more than 3.8 lakh devotees. It was followed by Mahishashura Mardini, Rajarajeswari Devi and Durga Devi alankaram.
“We observed an overall increase of 15 per cent in the devotee count as compared to the previous year. We have successfully completed the festivities with no untoward incident reported,” said temple executive officer (EO) MV Suresh Babu. Though the devotee rush was slightly low in the initial days as compared to the years before, pilgrims started turning up in large numbers from October 5.
The temple earned a revenue of Rs 5.64 crore through the sale of tickets, prasadam and other services. Through Annadanam donations, another Rs 16.58 lakh was added.
The popularity of laddu prasadam remained high with the temple receiving Rs 2.14 crore through its sale.
“Anticipating that devotees will purchase laddu prasadam in huge quantity, we deployed 300 workers for its preparation and distribution. With 20 persons at prasadam counters, we made sure laddu and pulihora prasadam were available at any given time,” the EO said. City CP Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao appreciated the efforts made by the police and presented a portrait of Goddess Kanaka Durga to them.
