VIJAYAWADA: Dasara celebrations have commenced on an auspicious note at Indrakeeladri, the abode of Goddess Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada on Friday. Thousands of devotees from across the state had thronged the temple to offer prayers to the presiding deity since the break of dawn.
After performing the early morning rituals as per the temple tradition, the devotees were allowed to have a darshan from 9 am onwards. ‘Jaya Ghanta’ (victorious ringing of bells) was done to mark the commencement of the festival. Temple executive officer A Surya Kumari and city police commissioner D Gautam Sawang then had a darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga.
The sanctum sanctorum, shone in glittering golden hue as the inner sanctorum was recently gold-plated. The Goddess was bedecked in golden kavacham was glittering with the Goddess bedecked in the golden Kavacham and ornaments. “Devotees who had been waiting for hours in the queue lines, surged forward when the doors were opened for darshan, chanting Jai Bhavani, Jai Durga Bhavani.
Several devotees made it a point to have a holy dip in Krishna River at Durga Ghat before having a darshan of the Goddess, adorned as Swarna Kavachalakruta Durga Devi avatar. Elaborate arrangements were made for the darshan of the Goddess.
By 6 pm, around 30,000 people were estimated to have had a darshan of the Goddess and the income earned from sale of tickets, prasadams, kesakantam and kumkumarchana stood at `11.76 lakh. Early in the morning, Nagari Utsavam was taken out and several devotees offered prayers to processional deity on the occasion.
There were some complaints of lack of shade for the devotees waiting in some queue lines and also about the shortage of `100 tickets.