Thousands of devotees participated in the Dasara Mahotsavalu, organised by the Sri Sarannavaratri Mahotsava Committee, on the premises of Siddhartha Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology in Vijayawada on October 16 (Monday).
More than 10,000 devotees took part on the first day in the programme that starts at 7 a.m. and goes on till 10 p.m. daily.
Programme chief adviser K. Sathyanarayana said 100 students have been drawn from Sri Durga Malleswara Siddhartha Mahila Kalasala for the role of volunteers and ₹1.5 crore was spent on making the arrangements for the nine-day event. Free lunch is provided to devotees every day.
“Thirty-six homams can be performed simultaneously here,” he said, adding that organising such grand-scale events for Dasara stopped during 1992. ‘‘It is after 30 years that we have resumed the practice, thanks to the donors who include former MP Gokaraju Gangaraju.’‘
“Given the rush, it is difficult to perform pujas and homams such as ‘Chandi Yagam’ and ‘Maha Rudra Yagam’ at the Durga temple at Indrakeeladri. We are organising the event so that devotees can take part in the pujas here,” he said.
While homams take place in the mornings, pujas and cultural programmes are organised in the evenings.
