Visakhapatnam: Plans afoot for hassle-free ‘Giri Pradakshina’

Visakhapatnam: About 27 stalls around the hill and other facilities would be provided to devotees who circumambulate Simhachalam hill as part of ‘Giri Pradakshina’ scheduled on July 2, said Executive Officer of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam D Bramaramba.

Holding a meeting with the representatives of various charitable organisations here on Saturday, the EO assured that with the support of government departments and NGOs, the festival would be organised in a smooth manner.

Executive Engineer of the temple D Srinivasa Raju explained the arrangements made for the 32-km long trek around the hill. He shared the number of voluntary organisations participated last year along with the stalls set up.

Later, representatives of voluntary organisations said they would arrange similar stalls set up last year. A representative from Chodavaram area said they would arrange ‘anna prasadam’ for 10,000 people at the new Goshala junction.

Other voluntary organisations mentioned that they would set up refreshment counters to provide for the devotees at various points.

Meanwhile, the EO said that last year around 70 voluntary organisations were involved in the festival and this year also devasthanam would seek their cooperation.

Addressing the representatives of the voluntary organisations, the temple EO said they should erect stalls in designated areas of the trekking route and asked them to contribute their part to the devotees.

Simhachalam Devasthanam trust board members Gantla Srinu Babu, M. Rajeswari, Sridevi Varma, D Rama Lakshmi, executive engineer Rambabu, AE Hari and officers of various departments participated in the meeting.