SRIKAKULAM: Lakhs of devotees thronged Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple at Arasavilli on Sunday for darshan of the Sun God on the most auspicious Ratha Sapthami. As the day (Surya Jayanthi) fell on Sunday and coincided with the star Aswani over four lakh devotees rushed to the temple seeking blessings of the Deity. Thousands of devotees from north Andhra districts, parts of Chhattisgargh, Odisha and the South India visited the temple.
Though the district administration had made elaborate arrangements, due to the heavy rush the devotees waited in the queue lines till 10 pm for their turn to have darshan. The officials stopped the darshan for about 40 minutes as Governor ESL Narasimhan along with his spouse visited the temple. Sarada Peetham seer Swaroopanandendra Swami performed the Ksheerabhisekham and explained the importance of the temple and the presiding deity.