VIJAYAWADA: The annual Dasara festivities at Sri Durga Malleswara Varla Devasthanam atop Indrakeeladri concluded on grand notes on Thursday.
The festivities started on September 22 with traditional rituals, and priests performed the purnahuti ritual on Thursday evening, marking the conclusion of the festivities.
According to temple officials, there is an increase of devotees visiting the temple during the festivities by ten per cent when compared to the previous year, and it is recorded that more than 15 lakh devotees thronged the temple during the festivities, with close to 2.5 lakh devotees alone on the day of auspicious Moolanakshatram.
Elaborating on the arrangement works and income generated in the eleven days of Dasara festivities, temple executive officer (EO) VK Seena Naik said the Durga temple received an income of around Rs 5.64 crore through the sale of laddu prasadams, special poojas, darshanam tickets and other special poojas. Of the total, around Rs 4.8 crore alone were fetched through the sale of laddu prasadams, and the remaining through darshanam tickets and other services.
“While the temple received an income of Rs 6.62 crore during last Dasara, the income dropped to Rs 5.64 crore this year as the Rs 500 ticket was not implemented,” said the EO Seena Naik.
On the other hand, the devotee rush continued on Saturday with a larger number of Bhavani devotees turning up for the temple to relinquish their deeksha.