Vaishnava temples see huge turnout for Vaikunta Ekadasi
Hyderabad: Vaishnava temples across the city witnessed a huge turnout of devotees on Friday for Vaikunta Ekadasi, when the temples open their northern doors.
Following the recent stampede at Tirupati, officials took extra precautions to ensure smooth crowd management by deploying staff and volunteers, while the major temples had support from police personnel.
TTD-run temples in Himayatnagar and Jubilee Hills, Birla Mandir, Chilkur Balaji Temple, Iskcon temples in Secunderabad and Abids, and the Charminar Balaji Temple witnessed huge crowds. Devotees participated in rituals from early morning and temples organised devotional cultural programmes throughout the day.
At the Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Jiyaguda, devotees from various parts of the city gathered in large numbers. The Uttara Dwara Darshanam and Garuda Perumal procession began at 5 am.
"We visit every year on Vaikunta Ekadasi with family and temple is beautifully decorated which resemble Vaikuntam, and we also experience the darshan of Sheerasagara Vaikunta Nadha, which is unique here." Said B.Madhava, Devotee. “This is one of the oldest temples in the Old City. I feel blessed to take part in special poojas here,” said Ch. Ashish Goud.
At the Venkateswara Swamy temple in Chikkadpally, rituals began with an abhishekam at 3 am followed by the opening of the Uttara Dwara at 4 am.
"We observed long queues starting from the early hours, with devotees coming larger in the evening," said T. Venkatesham, endowments deputy commissioner. "As per the order of the endowments commissioner, I inspected the darshan facilities. With the help of temple staff and volunteers, we ensured devotees have darshan without any difficulties," he added.
Special police forces were deployed at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Tirumala Hills, Malakpet. “For the first time in 35 years, police managed crowd control at this temple and GHMC supported us with sanitation services before and during the festival," said temple chairman J. Mallikarjun Reddy.
Nearly 10,000 devotees visited Sri Padmavathi Venkateswara swamy Temple in Santoshnagar. The festivities began at 5 am with a Garuda Seva and the opening of the Uttara Dwara Darshanam. “From 10 am to 3 pm, we performed the Laksha Tulasi Pushpa archana, a tradition we have been performing for 30 years on this occasion," said temple priest Srinivasa Charyulu.