
SRIKAKULAM: Thousands of devotees visited the Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple at Arasavilli on Tuesday and had the Nijarupa Darshan on the occasion of Ratha Saptami.
Nearly 60,000 devotees from various parts of the Telugu States, as well as neighbouring Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal, had the divine darshan 1 am and 7 pm on Tuesday.
Principal Secretary of Endowments (Revenue) V Vinay Chand launched the celebrations by presenting silk robes to the Sun God on behalf of the State government. This was followed by milk anointing, Dwadasa Harati, and Maha Nivedhana to Sri Suryanarayana Swamy. Later, the temple officials allowed devotees to have the Nijarupa Darshan.
Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Srikakulam District Collector Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar, Parvathipuram-Manyam District Collector A Shyam Prasad, Visakhapatnam Range DIG Gopinath Jetty, Srikakulam SP Maheswara Reddy, MLAs, MLCs, judicial officials, police, and other VIPs had the darshan of Sri Suryanarayana Swamy.
It is believed that the Nijarupa darshan of Sri Suryanarayana Swamy on Ratha Saptami will bring health, wealth, and prosperity. Ratha Saptami is the only day of the year when the lord is seen in Nijarupam, without any ornaments or decorations, attracting a large crowd. In addition to the darshan, devotees prepared and offered milk rice (Kshirannam) near the Indra Pushkarini, performing Surya Namaskarams in the morning.
Attitude of temple officials irks donors
However, chaos erupted when devotees with donor passes were forced to wait for over three hours in long queues. Several donors expressed their displeasure with the temple authorities, claiming that VIPs were given priority over donors who play a significant role in the temple’s development. Meanwhile, Srikakulam town buzzed with cultural and spiritual events on the occasion of Ratha Saptami. A highlight of the celebrations was a performance by popular singer Mangli, whose rendition of the song “Maa Vooru Srikakulam... Memanta Sramikulam” resonated with the crowd.
Heli ride at Dutch Building gains popularity
The Heli ride organised by the district administration as part of the three-day Ratha Saptami celebrations at the Dutch Building has received a strong response from the public. Initially planned for February 2-4, the district administration has extended the ride through February 5. Now, plans are in motion to extend it for another day, February 6, due to the high demand.
So far, the over 270 people took the Heli ride, raking in Rs 4.86 lakh income.