Festive spirit grips Kaleshwaram on the eve of Saraswati Pushkaralu
Festive spirit pervaded Kaleshwaram, the abode of Sri Kaleshwara Sri Mukteshwara Swamy temple, in Telangana's Jayashankar Bhupalpally district as the temple town has been spruced up for the 12-day Saraswati Pushkaralu-2025 scheduled to begin on Thursday (May 15, 2025).
The once-in-12 years mega religious fete is dedicated to worshipping the subterranean Saraswati river which converges with the Godavari and the Pranahita at the confluence point called 'Triveni Sangamam' in Kaleshwaram, a town bordering Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.
The entire temple town has been decked up befitting the occasion with a tent city coming up along the sprawling bathing ghats in the historic pilgrimage centre.
The 12-day event will witness 'Nadi Harathi' by pandits of the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh and a host of devotional programmes, the temple sources said.
A road has been laid between the VIP bathing ghat and the Godavari ghat. Showers have been installed at the bathing ghats on the banks of the Godavari. Around 50 special officers have been appointed to oversee the sanitation measures during the 12-day event.
Dozens of ace swimmers and traditional boats have been deployed along the river course in the temple town to ensure safety of the pilgrims.
Around 3,500 police personnel have been drafted for bandobust duty and as many as 200 CCTV cameras have been installed in the temple town. Arrangements have been put in place for drone-aided surveillance on the temple town as a safety precaution. NDRF, SDRF and Singareni rescue teams have been stationed in the temple town.
The 12-day event will be inaugurated by IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu on Thursday morning. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is scheduled to unveil the statue of Goddess Saraswati, and take holy bath in the river and offer prayers at the historic temple in Kaleshwaram at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
The district police officials have made tight security arrangements in coordination with their counterparts in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra to ensure hassle free vehicular movement on all roads, including the Sironcha inter-State bridge, leading to Kaleshwaram.
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