The Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Devasthanam in Vemulawada was packed to the brim with the arrival of hundreds of pilgrims from various parts of the State on Monday.
It is a ritual for those headed to the biennial Samakka-Sarakka Jatara at Medaram (February 5 to 8) to first offer prayers at the Vemulawada temple. Devotees took holy dip in the dharmagundam’ and participated in the ‘kode mokku’ (tying of an ox) ritual and offering ‘bonalu’ at Baddi Pochamma temple in the temple town for smooth passage of the pilgrimage in Medaram.
However, with the unprecedented congregation, sanitation went for a toss and other arrangements such as drinking water in the temple queues was affected. Pilgrims occupied every inch in open places of the temple town due to non-availability of accommodation. Traffic, too, came to a standstill despite heavy deployment of police force.
Incidentally, temple executive officer Krishnaveni is on long leave. Following his abscence, administrative work was hit with no authorities coming forward to chalk out strategies for providing adequate arrangements to devotees.
If unresolved, devotees could be put to serious inconvenience, considering that the rush to the shrine would only swell over the next days until the Medaram Jatara begins.
