The nine-day Dasara festivities concluded at the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam here with the ‘Teppotsavam’, the celestial boat ride, of goddess Kanaka Durga and her consort Malleswara Swamy, on Vijaya Dasami on Monday.
The environs of the Durga Ghat and the Prakasam barrage reverberated with the chanting of ‘Bhavani Mata Ki Jai.’ As the sunset reflected in the placid waters of the Krishna, the specially decorated and illuminated ‘Hamsa Vahanam’ (swan-shaped boat) carrying the processional deities moved majestically from the Durga Ghat to the Punnami Ghat.
Amidst recitation of Vedic hymns by the temple priests, the One Town police, in tune with the age-old tradition, brought the processional deities to the riverbank. The deities were brought in a palanquin from the hillock to the Durga Ghat.
The festivities were a smooth affair barring devotees’ outburst on the eighth day of the festival. The officials could ensure a hassle-free darshan for common devotees throughout the festival, including on the Moola nakshatram day on Thursday, when pilgrim rush peaks, as VIP darshans were not allowed on the day. However, on Durga Ashtami on the following day, the devotees standing in the queue lines for long hours were seen entering into a heated argument with the police personnel near the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
Long queues
The police virtually took control of Indrakeeladri, and top officials oversaw the movement of queue lines. Despite this, the common devotees who stood in the queue lines from the Vinayaka temple, had to face hardships. Bypassing the queue, some devotees reportedly with the help of staff on duty, such as police, had the “privilege of having a quick darshan” which triggered angry outbursts from those in the queue lines.
For the first time, the presiding deity was decorated as Maha Chandi Devi this year on last Thursday (October 19), and the priests chose to do away with the decades’ old tradition of adorning the deity as Swarnakavachalankrita Devi on the first day of the festival.
Revenue
The Kanaka Durga temple netted a revenue of more than ₹3.05 crore during the nine days. The final day offerings are yet to be known. The temple spent about ₹2.5 crore on engineering works for the festival.
The ‘antaralaya darshan’ was cancelled during the festival. A free darshan queue line apart from ₹100, ₹300 and ₹500 tickets queue lines were made available.
