Heavy devotee rush at Dwaraka Tirumala

Dwaraka Tirumala: The famous pilgrim centre Dwaraka Tirumala floated with thousands of devotees on Friday, the auspicious day of Mukkoti Ekadasi.

Sri Venkateswara Swamy Devasthanam of Dwaraka Tirumala in West Godavari district made elaborate arrangements to meet the devotee rush on the auspicious day. The devotees who camped from late night in the temple village participated in the Uttara Dwara Darshanam in the wee hours of Friday.

Several Govinda Mala devotees reached Dwaraka Tirumala by walk from various places across the district. Several devotees who reached in the night slept at the Aniveti Mandapam on the east side of the temple and Srivari Paduka Mandapam. The Devasthanam officials made elaborate arrangements and decorated the Uttara Dwaram and the temple walls with colourful flowers.

The main priest Jaggannadhacharyulu (Rambabu) and priests offered prayers to Lord Sri Venkateswara at the temple. The temple priests as per the Vedic rituals conducted the Uttara Dwaraka Darshanam.

The temple Executive Officer Vendra Trinadha Rao, EEs Vaikuntha Rao, Srinivasa Raju and others supervised the programme.

As estimated on Friday, around 50,000 devotees thronged the temple village by afternoon. It took five hours for the darshan of Lord Sri Venkateswara. Special queue lines and Prasadam counters were arranged for the devotees.

In view of the heavy floating at the temple village, Bhimadole CI Nageswar Nayak and Dwaraka Tirumala SI Veerraju made elaborate security arrangements and regulated traffic.