Top priority will be given to devotees to view Nijaroopa darshan: Minister

Visakhapatnam: Top priority will be given to common devotees during Chandanotsavam festival of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam and the state government issued guidelines accordingly, informed Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy.

Speaking at a media conference here on Wednesday after reviewing the arrangements for the forthcoming ‘Chandanotsavam’, the minister informed that the darshans will start from 3 am on April 30.

Keeping the past experiences in view, the minister mentioned a collective effort will be taken to ensure that the festival is organised without any hassles.

The rituals will begin at 1 am with the ‘Suprabhata Seva’, and the first darshan will be facilitated to hereditary trustee P Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his family members. The Endowments Minister informed that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu along with his family members will present silk clothes to Lord Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy on behalf of the state government. However, he informed that the official confirmation is yet to be made towards this direction.Further, Ramanarayana Reddy SAID that the VIP tickets are being given only up to 2,500, and as part of the protocol darshans, six family members will be allowed on one pass for the Nijaroopa darshan. Two slots allotted for VVIPs. Protocol darshans will be made available from 5 am to 7am and again from 6 pm to 7 pm, the minister informed.

The Endowments Minister stated that devotees who have purchased a ticket of Rs. 1,500 will be allowed to have darshan from the Bhoga Mandapam. He stated that no sanctum sanctorum darshan will be allowed on the festival day. He mentioned that those who are in the queues before 7 pm will be allowed darshan until the last devotee. The Minister stated that steps should be taken to provide free anna prasadam and laddu prasad to devotees who arrive for darshan on Chandanotsavam, and orders have been issued to the officials in this regard. Ramanarayana Reddy said that arrangements have been made for the supply of drinking water, buttermilk and biscuits for the devotees waiting in the queues, and milk will also be provided for children.

District in-charge Minister Dola Sri Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy, Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha, MLAs Palla Srinivasa Rao, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Vishnu Kumar Raju, Panchakarla Ramesh Babu, Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu, Endowments Commissioner K Ramachandra Mohan, City Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi, and Simhachalam temple EO K Subbarao participated in the conference.