VIJAYAWADA: Heavy rush was witnessed at Goddess Kanaka Durga temple, atop Indrakeeladri hill on third day of Krishna Pushkarams, coinciding with Ekadasi on Sunday.
Serpentine queues were formed as crowds swelled in the afternoon. More than 1.5 lakh devotees thronged the temple by evening. Devotees thronged the ghats from the early hours of the day for the holy dip in river Krishna. The Krishna district medical and health department set up free OP counters to provide health services for 600 pilgrims. ORS was also supplied to the devotees to have relief from sun stroke.
Meanwhile, police posted additional forces at all the bathing ghats to manage the rush of devotees. Additional forces were deployed to regulate the movement of devotees in the queue lines in Mallikharjuna Maha Mandapam. The temple authorities maintain total six queue lines including Rs 300 tickets to provide hassle free darshan for devotees.
Speaking to the Express, Temple Executive Officer A Surya Kumari said that fool-proof arrangements were made by the devasthanam to meet the pilgrim rush in next couple of days. Free food, butter milk and drinking water are being supplied to the devotees in the queue lines leading to the Indrakeeladri hill. Anna Prasadam was offered to 30,000 devotees on Sunday, she said.