VIJAYAWADA: The 10-day annual Dasara festivities at Sri Durga Malleswara Varla Devasthanam (Durga temple) atop Indrakeeladri kickstarted on a grand note on Sunday, with more than one lakh devotees from various places across the country visiting the temple and having darshan of the presiding deity Sri Kanaka Durga Devi, who was adorned as Sri Bala Tripura Sundari Devi on the first day of the spiritual activity.
The festivities began with the priests performing rituals such as Suprabhata Seva, Snapanabhishekam, Balabhoga nivedana, Vinayaka Pooja and nitya archana.
The devotees were allowed to have darshanam of the deity around 9 am in the morning after completing the rituals.
Temple executive officer (EO) VK Seena Naik and city police commissioner SV Rajashekhara Babu opened the doors of the temple and had darshan of the deity.
The CP offered silk clothes to the Goddess Kanaka Durga as part of tradition. According to temple officials, as many as 1.02 lakh devotees thronged the temple from morning 9 am to 8 pm, and it is expected that another 10,000 devotees will visit the temple at the end of the day.
Also, the temple has received around Rs 29 lakh in income through the sale of `1000 VIP darshanam tickets, laddu prasadams, special poojas and other services.
Devotees from across the state reached the temple premises around 5 am and waited in the queues after taking a holy dip in river Krishna. . With all schools and colleges in the state announcing holidays, devotees from various places turned up in large numbers early in the morning. Tonsuring halls and Krishnaveni ghat were seen overcrowded.
The temple administration made elaborate arrangements that include setting up barricades from Canal Road to the temple. Volunteers provided water sachets, milk and also accompanied senior citizens and specially abled devotees.
NTR district collector G Lakshmisha and CP SV Rajashekhar Babu personally inspected the QR code-based feedback system that has been set up to obtain feedback from devotees.
CP Rajasekhar Babu monitored the ongoing festival proceedings from the command control room set up in the model guest house.
On the other hand, restrictions on the media coverage during the Dasara festivities atop Indrakeeladri have triggered protests by journalists, who questioned the authorities over alleged preferential treatment towards social media influencers.
Journalists from various media organisations staged a protest, demanding that the authorities provide adequate access to journalists to cover the festivities, devotees’ facilities and arrangements made by the temple administration.
They also questioned the district Collector G Lakshmisha and Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath (Chinni) over the restrictions imposed on media personnel.
Journalists alleged that while social media influencers were being given priority, reporters were facing hurdles in discharging their professional duties.
They stressed that media coverage was essential to highlight issues faced by devotees, including queue management, drinking water, sanitation, security and darshan arrangements during the annual celebrations.
Second day Alankaram - SRI GAYATRI DEVI
Goddess Gayatri is considered the Veda Mata, the mother of Vedas. In this attire, Sri Gayatri Devi with her magical powers is seated in a lotus with ‘Pancha Mukhi’ (five faces) representing the pancha (five) pranas -- prana, apana, vyana, udana, and samana - (five lives), five principles or elements - earth, water, air, fire, sky.
She glows in five colours - mukta (pearl), vidruma (coral), hema (gold) , neela (blue), dhavala (White) and ‘ashtha bhuji’, eight shoulders. She is armed with a sword, bow and arrow and spear.
The temple priests deck up the deity as Sri Gayatri Devi to tell the devotees that the Gayatri Devi, as a Mother, protects the one who chants the maha mantra devotedly by giving them salvation, relief and food