Yadagirigutta Turns Festive Hub As Dasara Holidays Begin
Yadagirigutta temple witnessed a surge in devotees as Telangana’s Dasara school holidays began, with long queues for darshan and prasadam.
The Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Yadagirigutta witnessed a heavy rush of devotees from Saturday following the commencement of the 13-day Dasara holidays for schools across Telangana.
Families, students and other visitors from Hyderabad, Secunderabad, neighbouring districts and other states thronged the hill shrine. Long queues were seen at the darshan complexes and prasadam counters, while the surrounding mada streets witnessed increased pilgrim movement.
The school education department has declared Dasara holidays for schools from October 10 to 22, with classes scheduled to resume on October 23. The vacation coincides with Navaratri and Vijayadashami on October 20.
Several families chose to visit the temple at the beginning of the holidays. “Children have a full break, and we wanted to begin Dasara with the blessings of Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy,” said a devotee from Hyderabad.
Devotees performed special pujas, abhishekams and Satyanarayana Vratams, while several families took part in tonsure rituals at the Kalyana Katta. Long queues were also reported at the prasadam counters.
Temple officials said the shrine generally receives between 5,000 and 8,000 devotees daily, with footfall increasing considerably during weekends, public holidays and festivals.
Officials said queue management, sanitation and crowd-guidance arrangements had been strengthened to manage the holiday rush and minimise inconvenience to pilgrims.
General darshan took around two hours during peak hours, while special-darshan queues moved faster.
Temple officials expect the rush to increase further during Navaratri, Batukamma celebrations and Vijayadashami, with crowd-management arrangements continuing throughout the festive period.