Vijayawada: A sea of devotees converged at the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) temple atop Indrakeeladri for Moola Nakshatram to witness the presiding deity, Goddess Kanaka Durga, who was adorned as Saraswati Devi on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of devotees began arriving at Vinayaka Temple and entered the queue lines even before they were allowed for Sarva Darshan late on Tuesday night.
Given the significant rush of devotees, the temple authorities opened the temple doors at 12:50 am, permitting devotees to seek darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga in the form of Saraswati Devi. The rope party personnel faced a tough time controlling the crowd in the holding areas at the VMC office and other points, as devotees surged exponentially to catch a glimpse of the goddess in the early hours, considering this time sacred for seeking blessings.
By 11 am, around 54,000 devotees had availed themselves of the darshan, with at least 7,000 devotees having a glimpse of the goddess per hour. Approximately 2 lakh devotees are expected to have darshan of the presiding deity in the form of Saraswati Devi before the temple doors for Sarva Darshan close at 11 pm. The temple authorities were able to facilitate darshan for the maximum number of devotees, as all five queue lines were opened to the public. Devotees were also provided with free laddu prasadam after their darshan of Goddess Saraswati Devi at the temple.
Meanwhile, some devotees expressed their anger after Sarva Darshan was allegedly halted when Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan, accompanied by his daughter, visited the temple to offer special prayers and seek the blessings of Goddess Kanaka Durga on Wednesday morning.
On Thursday, the presiding deity, Goddess Kanaka Durga, will be adorned as Durga Devi to bless devotees.
