The Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam is gearing up to organise the 10-day Dasara festivities atop Indrakeeladi here from September 26 to October 5 this year.
The festival had been celebrated only for nine days as per the Telugu almanac the previous year.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Kanaka Durga temple Executive Officer D. Bramaramba said the temple was expecting a turnout of about 10 lakh this year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival had been a low-key affair for the last two years. But this year, arrangements were being made in tune with the estimated turnout of pilgrims, she said.
The rush of ‘Bhavani Deeksh’ devotees was expected to continue for two more days after Dasara.
“These devotees are requested to make note of the fact that there will not be any arrangements for relinquishment of deeksha during the festival. They will have to relinquish the deeksha at their respective places,” the EO made it clear.
She said there would not be ‘antaralaya darshan’ during the festival. All other queues, including those of ₹100, 300, and free darshan, would continue as usual.
“We are contemplating introducing ₹500 ticket for VIPs this year. A decision will be taken at a meeting on Friday. The other arrangements pertaining to queues, bathing ghats, tonsuring centres, free bus service, and prasadam counters will be in place as per the previous year’s plan,” she said.
“The amount spent on the conduct of the festival the previous year was ₹3 crore. This year, the expenditure is estimated to be around ₹4 crore as the allocation for illumination has been increased considerably,” she said.
Out of total expenditure, ₹2 crore would be spent on illumination, queues, and tonsuring centres. “The revenue generated during the festival the previous year was ₹11.5 crore. This year, it is expected to touch ₹15 crore,” she added.
