VIJAYAWADA: Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) organised the sacred Giri Pradikshina around Indrakeeladri Hill on the occasion of Aashada Pournami and Guru Purnima on Thursday. Devotees from across Vijayawada and neighbouring areas thronged the Kanaka Durga temple to take part in the ritual.
Temple Executive Officer (EO) V.K. Seena Naik, along with his family, offered special prayers and ceremonially broke a coconut to commence the event.
Devotees, chanting hymns in praise of Goddess Durga, offered coconuts to Goddess Kamadhenu Kanaka Durga at the temple’s toll gate and began their 7-km trek around the hill.
The Giri Pradikshina route covered Kummaripalem Centre, Nalugu Satambala Centre, Vidyadharapuram, Sitara Junction, Milk Project, Chitti Nagar, and Brahmin Street before returning to Indrakeeladri. Thousands participated in the spiritual procession, offering prayers to Goddess Kanaka Durga and Lord Malleswara Swamy.
The temple town was filled with festive fervour as pilgrims walked with devotion. The programme was designed by the temple authorities and the Vedic Committee, inspired by the Tiruvannamalai Girivalam tradition. “Circumambulating Indrakeeladri on a full moon day is believed to fulfill wishes, as celestial deities are said to dwell here on this auspicious day,” EO Seena Naik said.
The procession was enriched with devotional music, thappeta and kolatam folk dances, bhajans, and Vedic chants, creating a spiritually charged atmosphere.