Religious ecstasy marked ‘Vaikunta Ekadasi’ celebrations on Monday at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara. Priests conducted special rituals and later opened the Vaikunta Dwaram to the public.
For the first time in recent past, common devotees were allowed for darshan as early as at 3.45 am. The town wore a festive look and spiritual fervour was all pervasive as the town milled with pilgrim activity.
Unlike in the previous years, there was a drastic cut in the time allocated to VIPs as well as in the tickets issued to them. The TTD claimed that Maha Laghu darshan system was enforced during the entire day to enable more number of pilgrims have the opportunity of passing through the Vaikunta dwaram.
Minister for State of Home affairs G. Kishan Reddy, Ministers of AP and Telangana, dozens of MPs and MLAs, and Chief Justice of High Court Justice JK Maheswarai were among those who visited the temple.
TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy, who expressed satisfaction over the way the crowd was handled, also appreciated the system adopted in clearing the VIP rush which he said contributed in the saving more than an hour.
Additional EO A.V. Dharma reddy said devotees could have Vaikunta Dwara darshanam till Tuesday midnight, adding arrangements were in place to handle more than 1.80 lakh pilgrims during both days.
Meanwhile, the procession of the golden chariot was watched by thousands of devotees who had lined the mada streets.
There was a sudden cloudburst in the afternoon, but it not deter the pilgrims standing in the extended darshan lines.
