VIJAYAWADA: After facing severe criticism from devotees over lack of facilities in queue lines and delay in darshan of the Goddess on the first day of festivities, officials of Kanaka Durga Temple on Thursday swung into action and made foolproof arrangements to ensure hassle-free darshan for devotees visiting the hill shrine during Dasara festival.
Around 65,000 devotees had darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga, who was adorned as ‘Bala Tripura Sundari Devi’, on the second day of Navaratri. Devotees made a beeline for the temple in the early hours of the day after having a holy dip in River Krishna. Students and volunteers of NCC distributed drinking water packets and voluntary organisations set up medical camps on the temple premises. Voluntary organisations also supplied free milk to around 4,000 devotees.
Krishna District Collector B Lakshmikantham had darshan of goddess and interacted with devotees about the arrangements in the queue lines. “As many as 5,500 police personnel, 1,500 volunteers and 120 Bhavani Seva Dal were deployed to provide assistance to differently-abled and elderly devotees,” Lakshmikantham said.
Many women devotees participated in the Special Kumkumarchana at Mallikharjuna Maha Mandapam for the well being of their family members. The devotees lined up in front of the free prasadam counter for pulihora and appam, introduced by the temple this Dasara. Sumptuous meals were also served to devotees at Sringeri Peetham on Arjun Street. Free buses were arranged from Railway Station and Bus stand for the convenience of the devotees.
Scores of Bhavani devotees from Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts reached the city on foot and thronged the hill shrine to have darshan of the Goddess. However, several Bhavani devotees who reached the shrine through Eluru Road expressed their dissatisfaction over the temple authorities not initiating measures to supply drinking water.
‘Gayatri Devi’ alankara on third day of Navaratri
On third day of Dasara festivities, the presiding deity Kanaka Durga atop Indrakeeladri is adorned as Sri Gayatri Devi. In this attire, Sri Gayatri Devi, with her magical powers, is seated in a lotus with ‘panchamukhi’ (five faces) representing the pancha pranas -- prana, apana,vyana, udana, and samana -- (five lives), five principles or elements (pancha tatvas) earth, water, air, fire, sky (prithvi, jala, vayu, teja, aakasha). She glows in five colours-pearl, coral, gold, blue and white