VIJAYAWADA/ SRIKAKULAM: Devotees continued to face hardships at major temples across the State as the strike called by Nayee Brahmins (barbers by occupation) entered the third day on Sunday. Though the temple administrations have made alternative arrangements, they were found to be insufficient as most of the devotees were unable to fulfil their vow of getting tonsured at the temples.
The devotees who thronged Goddess Kanaka Durga Temple at Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada on Sunday preferred to tonsure their heads at saloons in and around the temple premises.
Taking advantage of the situation, the private barbers charged Rs 150 for tonsuring and Rs 100 for three snips. Several devotees went back home without fulfilling their vow and appealed to the Kanaka Durga temple administration to intervene and avoid inconvenience for the devotees. Barbers also staged Jala Deeksha at Bhavani Ghat demanding speedy redressal of their grievances.
Tension prevailed for a while at Sri Suryanarayana Swamy Temple, Arasavalli in Srikakulam district on Sunday when the devotees entered into an argument with the temple barbers, who have been on strike since Friday. At one point, devotees who were disappointed with the arrangements tried to break open the doors of the tonsure hall despite the Nayee Brahmins JAC allowing three barbers to attend duties to avoid inconvenience for the devotees.
On Saturday, the barbers somehow managed to tonsure devotees. But on Sunday, devotees from West and East Godavari districts thronged the Arasavilli temple in large numbers unaware of the barbers’ strike. Serpentine queue lines were witnessed near the ticket counters and devotees had to wait for hours for their turn.
"We reached Arasavalli temple at 6 am to get our heads tonsured," said P Suryanarayana, a resident of Tuni in East Godavari district. He also said that they had been standing in the queue with small children since 8:30 am and had not got the token even by 12 noon.