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Devotees throng temples as part of Pushkar fete

Seer objects to keeping temple open for long hours

Rajahmundry: A large number of devotees are thronging the prominent temples located along the course of Go-davari river to have darshan and offer prayers soon after having dip in Godavari river and performing rituals as part of Godavari Maha Pushkaralu in Godavari districts.
The devotees are visiting lord Satyanarayana temple at Annavaram, lord Venkateswara temple at Dwaraka Tirumala, deity Mavulamma temple and Soma Ramam temple at Bhimavaram, Pattiseema temple and the famous pancharama temples located at Samalkota, Draksharama, Bhimavaram, Palacole and Amaravati and others.
Following the turnout of huge number of devotees, the temple authorities are keeping the temples to remain open for long hours beyond the normal timings to ensure all of them get darshan and perform vratams.
The authorities at lord Satyanarayana temple at Annavaram are keeping the temple to remain open between 2.00 am and 11.00 pm in a day and over one lakh devotees are visiting the temple a day and the temple authorities are expecting offering worth about Rs 1.5 crore during the 12 days of Godavari fete. The authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the benefit of the devotees and as part of Annadanam, they are offering Pulihora and Daddojanam to nearly 25,000 devotees per day.
Vehicles are not being allowed on the hill where the temple is located to avoid traffic congestion and the devotees are asked to walk all the way to the temple on the hill.
At lord Venkateswara temple at Dwaraka Tirumala, the temple authorities are allowing darshan of the lord between 6.00 am and 11.30 pm and over 50,000 devotees are visiting the temple in a day.
However, Visakha-based Sarada Peetam seer Swaroopanandendra said, “Opening the temple in the early hours at 2.00 am is against the Agama Sastram. It is ideal to open the temple between 3.30 am and 4.00 am and allow the devotees to take darshan. The temple should also be closed by 10.00 pm or 10.30 pm for the day. The temples cannot be kept open for long due to the heavy rush of devotees.”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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