CHENNAI: Over 50,000 people queued up on the second day of darshan after the idol of Lord Athi Varadar was brought to the surface from underwater. The idol was brought out from the Anandasaras tank within the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram at around 2:30 am on Friday. Devotees were allowed for darshan from Monday when around a lakh people, including Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, came to catch a glimpse of the idol.
The ticketing system for darshan has been temporarily withdrawn and public can have darshan of the Lord between 6 am and 2 pm, and 3 pm and 8 pm. Initially, devotees lined up in two queues - a special `50 ticket and a common queue, on Monday. Since the system failed to work, visitors align in a single queue from Tuesday. Online booking for `500 per head tickets opened on Tuesday in which there would be a cap of 500 visitors a day. Darshan for the same is to begin from July 4. Darshan from 5pm to 8pm is restricted only to residents of Kanchipuram Taluk for 26 days.
The devotees will be allowed through East Raja Gopuram of the temple and after darshan, exit through West Raja Gopuram. Devotees will be able to see the idol for 48 days from July 1 to August 17. Security has been beefed up for the anticipated event this year, with 2,656 police personnel deployed.
The last time when Lord Athi Varadar resurfaced, was on July 2, 1979. Athi Varadaraja is said to be among the four Brahma Kararchita Varadaraja sculptures carved from the ‘Athi’ tree. It is said that the idol was immersed to protect it from invaders and is brought to the surface for devotees to worship once every 40 years.
Ticketing put on hold
The ticketing system for darshan has been temporarily withdrawn and public can have darshan of the Lord between 6 am and 2 pm, and 3 pm and 8 pm. Initially, devotees lined up in two queues - a special `50 ticket and a common queue, on Monday. Since the system failed to work, visitors align in a single queue from Tuesday. Online booking of tickets opened on Tuesday