Scores of devotees' witness ‘nijarupa' darshan
Visakhapatnam: Despite rain, scores of devotees witnessed 'nijarupa' darshan on the annual festival of 'Chandanotsavam' organised at Simhachalam Devasthanam in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
The temple priests performed special puja in the wee hours of the day and Hereditary Trustee of the Devasthanam P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju along with his family members viewed the first darshan of the 'nijarupa' of the presiding deity. On behalf of the state government, Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad offered silken robes to Lord Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy on the occasion. The darshan for common devotees began soon after the first darshan witnessed by the Hereditary Trustee of the Devasthanam.
In a while, rains coupled with gales caused inconvenience to the devotees who came in droves to witness the 'real avatar' of the Simhachalam deity. Seeking shelter, devotees went in search of shaded areas to protect themselves from getting drenched.
Meanwhile, a part of the wall at Rs.300 queue line gave away at the Devasthanam, killing seven persons and injuring a few others.
With the Rs.300 queue line getting merged with other queue lines following the incident, the darshan got inordinately delayed for the devotees. In the evening, rain again caused inconvenience to the devotees at Simhachalam. Despite the issues, the devotees continued to converge at Simhachalam to view the 'nijarupa' darshan of the Lord Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy.
The free transport facility turned out to be inadequate for scores of devotees who thronged the temple on Chandanotsavam day.
At a time when rescue operations were going on in full swing following the death of seven devotees due to the wall collapse, the protocol darshan, however, continued unhindered. Following which, the officials had a tough time in providing security for the VVIPs' darshan and monitoring the rescue operation simultaneously. Several devotees expressed ire over how the protocol darshan continued at Simhachalam without any deviation despite the tragic incident that took place for the first time at the shrine. The devotees who entered the queue lines by 7 pm were allowed to witness 'nijarupa' darshan that lasted till night.
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