VIJAYAWADA: On the third day of Dasara celebrations on Friday, a large number of devotees thronged Kanaka Durga temple here to have darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga in Gayatri Devi alankaram.
Temple authorities claimed that over 80,000 devotees had darshan of the Goddess on Friday. They said that queue lines were completely packed with devotees, adding that 3,583 people purchased Rs 300 tickets and 5,117 people purchased Rs 100 tickets.
District Collector B Lakshmikantham monitored the arrangements. Ministers Paritala Sunitha, Ganta Srinivasa Rao and N Amarnath Reddy, Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh and film actor Rajendra Prasad offered special prayers to Goddess. On their arrival at the temple, temple EO V Koteswaramma and temple trust board members accorded warm welcome to them.
Ganta Srinivasa Rao expressed satisfaction over the arrangements and appreciated temple authorities for distributing milk to children and buttermilk for adults, waiting in queue lines. Paritala Sunitha said for the first time she had darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga during Navaratri.
Snake scare
Meanwhile, devotees and temple staff spotted a snake at the laddu counter on ghat road. They screamed and ran helter-skelter causing panic among other devotees for some time. However, they heaved a sigh of relief after the snake disappeared into bushes.