Devotees make beeline to Srisailam

Kurnool: Over 6 lakh devotees from far away destinations have reached Srisailam hills by Sunday evening to take part in Maha Sivaratri celebrations on Monday.

The inflow of pilgrims is increasing with every passing hour. Some devotees are trekking the hills to reach the hill shrine of Mallikarjuna Swamy at Srisailam while some others are reaching by different means of transport.

The hills are reverberating with the Sivanama Smaranam (chanting Om Namah Sivaiah). About 70 per cent of pilgrims who reached the hill shrine are Siva Swamulu. With the arrival of Siva Swamulu, the entire hill shrine wore an orange look.

The Siva Swamulu and pilgrims who reached Srisailam have taken holy dip in Pathala Ganga and offered prayers to the presiding deities, Goddess Bhramaramba Devi and Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy.

The Siva Swamulu reached the hill shrine after taking Deeksha for 41 days (mandalam) to offer irimudi to Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy. With innumerable pilgrims reaching the temple, the district administration and the police department have taken all precautions.

The district administration has made necessary arrangements to cater to every need of the devotees and the police department has taken safety measures. Security has been beefed up to prevent any untoward incidents.

Temple Executive Officer (EO) Sriramachandra Murthy and Superintendent of Police (SP) Dr Fakkeerappa Kaginelli jointly inspected the arrangements after going around the temple premises.