Dussehra festivities end, but joy continues at Vijayawada KanakaDurga temple
Vijayawada: Angry at not being invited for the Teppotsavam (the celestial boat ride of Durga Malleswara Swami), local legislators on Saturday asked the district collector to submit a report on this lapse of protocol.
The Dasara festival celebration committee led by district collector orga-nises the Teppotsavam on the River Krishna. The celestial boat ride marks the conclusion of the 10-day festival.
The committee failed to issue passes to the legislators. This angered them, to the extent that the issue was brought to the notice of the Chief Minister’s Office.
MP Kesineni Srinivas wrote to the collector, seeking a report on the issue. In his letter, Mr Srinivas also demanded a list of invitees to the Teppotsavam in the past 10 years.
On Friday, thousands of devotees had witnessed the Teppotsavam organised in which idols of Goddess Kanakadurga and Mallikarjuna Swamy were taken in a boat ride on the River Kris-hna amidst chanting of Vedic mantras.
A large number of devotees made their way to the Prakasam Barrage right from the afternoon itself to witness the celestial event.
As per the tradition, the idols were brought in a procession from the temple to the Swan Boat by police officials.
After reaching the banks of the Krishna, the priests took possession of the idols and adorned them on the impressively decorated Swan Boat amidst chanting of Vedic mantras.
Collector M. Raghunanadana Rao, joint-collector J. Murali and sub-collector S. Nagalakshmi were present in the swan boat. The temple festival committee members and other VIPs accompanied the idols in a separate boat.
The Swan boat made three rounds in Krishna river from Durga ghat to Sitanagaram, as firecrackers illuminated the sky.
After conclusion of the Teppotsavam, the idols were handed over to police as per tradition.
The officials took the idols to I-Town police station and after offering prayers, brought them in a procession to Indrakeeladri, where they were handed over to the temple authorities.
Meanwhile, The Kanakadurga temple netted a revenue of Rs 2.59 crore during the 10-day Dasara festival.
The figure is exlusive of the collection from the hundis, which will be opened on October 8.
The temple authorities netted revenue of Rs 18 lakh from the sale of laddu prasadam.
Meanwhile, the flow of devotees to the temple continued as people observe Bhavani deeksha visit it even after Dasara.
Over 2.5 lakh Bhavanis visited the temple in the past two days.
The temple authorities are continuing with the existing arrangements in view of the heavy rush of Bhavanis.
