Thousands of devotees thronged the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam on the sixth day of Dasara celebrations on Tuesday.
The presiding deity was adorned as Saraswati Devi, with a ‘veena’ on her lap and blessing devotees. The people consider ‘Moola Nakshatram’ an auspicious star as it is the ‘Janma Nakshatram’ of the goddess.
About one lakh devotees had darshan of the deity by 6 p.m. The temple authorities estimate that more than one and half lakh devotees would have darshan by night.
The temple priests threw open the temple for darshan at around 1.30 a.m. Devotees waited in queue lines since Monday night. After taking a holy dip in the Krishna, they entered the queue lines at the Vinayaka temple.
Though all queue lines were turned into general darshan lines for speedy movement, the devotees waited for hours together in serpentine queues. Bhavanis were seen taking dip in river Krishna. The temple authorities decided not to encourage Bhavani Deeksha this year in view of COVID pandemic.
The officials stopped operating special vehicles for the VIPs, media and others to the temple in view of the heavy rush since morning. Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) was not allowed to use his vehicle to reach the temple. The MP alleged that it was a breach of protocol. He along with his family members walked down to the temple.
