VIJAYAWADA: Devotees planning to visit Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) atop Indrakeeladri for the upcoming Dasara festivities will have to wait another year to see the new elevated queue lines at Kanaka Durga Nagar.
The construction of the project, which is anticipated to ease the journey for pilgrims, is still ongoing, with only 30% of the work completed. Most of the other development projects under the temple’s master plan have yet to gain momentum, forcing devotees to continue using the old-fashioned queue lines this year.
Last December, the then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone for various development projects under the Durga temple master development plan. Endowment department officials had claimed the elevated queues and a new laddu prasadam kitchen would be ready for the 2024 Dasara festivities.
They assured the entire master plan, with an estimated budget of Rs 216 crore, would be completed in less than two years. The plan also includes a dedicated parking complex, a tonsuring hall, a spacious Nitya Annadanam complex, and other facilities aimed at enhancing the experience for devotees.
These queue lines will benefit devotees, particularly those walking from the Lord Vinayaka temple on Canal Road to the Durga temple via the ghat road. These lines are expected to shorten the distance by half a kilometer compared to the current ghat road lines used during Dasara. However, due to various delays, the construction of the queue lines are now expected to be operational for Dasara next year, a temple official said.
On the lines of TTD
The elevated queue lines at Kanaka Durga Nagar are designed to resemble those at TTD, and similar designs are planned for the Annadanam building and laddu prasadam kitchen