VIJAYAWADA: Elaborate arrangements are made by Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam to provide hassle-free darshan to devotees on Friday evening as Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will be visiting the Kanaka Durga temple and offer traditional silk robes to the goddess on behalf of his government.
Chief ministers of the State over the years had followed the ritual on moola nakshatra (birth star of the goddess) when the presiding deity would be in the attire of Goddess Sri Saraswati Devi. Though Jagan was earlier scheduled to offer the silk robes on Saturday, he will now be praying at the temple on Friday as he is scheduled to fly to New Delhi the next day to meet the Prime Minister.
A coordination meeting was conducted by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ch Vijaya Rao with medical, fire services, revenue, municipal, electricity, information and temple authorities on Thursday, discussing the measures to be taken to manage the situation during the chief minister’s visit. In the course of the meeting, the DCP asked the temple authorities to provide details of priests and officials who would accompany the chief minister during his visit. Instructions were also given to the electricity department officials to take necessary steps and provide the uninterrupted power supply.
Disclosing the details to the media at Indrakeeladri here on Thursday, Vijaya Rao said the chief minister would be accompanied by Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao and other ministers and will arrive at the hill shrine around 5 pm. After receiving a traditional welcome from the temple priests, the CM will proceed towards the sanctum sanctorum.
“A team of officials will inspect the route proposed for the chief minister’s visit on Friday afternoon and confirm it after taking into consideration the rush,” Rao added.