VIJAYAWADA: The concluding ceremony of Bhavani Deeksha at Kanakadurga temple on Indrakeeladri began this morning with Chandi Homam.
According to the temple officials, the number of Bhavanis who called off their Deeksha crossed 50,000 by evening. The temple will be kept open till 11 pm to enable Bhavanis to have darshan of Goddess Kanakadurga after calling off their deeksha.
A large number of Bhavanis thronged the six bathing ghats on the banks of Krishna river for renouncement of their deeksha.
The temple management deployed over 600 barbers at the bathing ghats for tonsuring the heads of Bhavanis. Big boxes were set up at the bathing ghats to enable Bhavanis to drop their red clothes after the renouncement of their deeksha.
Otherwise, they used to leave the clothes in the river causing pollution. Medical camps were also set up at the bathing ghats to provide first aid to Bhavanis in case of emergency.
The municipal corporation spruced up the temple surroundings and repaired the road around Indrakeeladri to enable Bhavanis to make Giri Pradakshanam, which is a part of the ritual, without any hassles this time. Venkateswara Rao of Visakhapatnam who called of his deeksha on the first day of concluding ceremony, said Giri Pradakshinam was comfortable this year. The 10 prasadam counters set up at Mallikharjunapet and Kanakadurga Nagar sold 75,000 laddus till evening. The concluding ceremony will go on till December 31. The temple authorities restricted the movement of private vehicles on Indrakeeladri ghat road to avoid rush. Traffic jams were witnessed on Krishnalanka road due to diversion of vehicular movement. About 2,000 police personnel were deployed to regulate traffic and thwart any untoward incident.