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The Hindu
30-04-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Chandanotsavam: thousands of devotees throng Simhachalam temple for darshan of deity
Thousands of devotees thronged the temple of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam to participate in the biggest annual festival – Chandanotsavam – here on Wednesday, April 30. It is only on this day of the year that devotees can have the 'Nijaroopa darshanam' as the thick sandalwood covering on the idol is removed. The festivities began with 'Suprabhatam' at 1 a.m. (early hours of Wednesday), followed by Viswaksena puja, Punyavachanam, Ritwikgvaranam, Panchakalavahanam and Chananottaram. Hereditary trustee of the temple P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his family members were the first to have darshan, as per the practice at the temple, around 3 a.m. He carried the silk vastrams, had darshan, and presented the silk vastram to the deity in a silver plate. He was received by the priests with temple honours. Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad presented silk vastrams to the deity on behalf of the State government. Ministers, MPs and MLAs had darshan in the early hours. The authorities allowed ₹300 ticket holders into ₹1,000 queue lines as there was no other option in view of the wall collapse on devotees in the ₹300 ticket queue line and rescue work was going on. This resulted in chaos till around noon but the situation improved later. The wall collapse and death of devotees, however, did not hamper darshan of the deity. Though a number of free buses were deployed to ferry passengers to the hilltop and back to the foothill after darshan, they seemed far from adequate as thousands of devotees thronged the temple. RTC buses were operated from the Gosala Junction (near the petrol bunk) and from the Adavivaram side entry. Devotees had a tough time, in getting a foothold in the buses from the hilltop after darshan.
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Arrangements in place for annual ‘Chandanotsavam' at Simhachalam
The stage is set for the biggest annual festival — Chandanotsavam — at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam, here, on April 30. It is only this day of the year that devotees can have 'Nijaroopa darshanam' as the thick sandalwood covering on the idol will be removed. The festivities would begin with 'Suprabhatam' at 1 a.m. (early hours of Wednesday), followed by Viswaksena puja, Punyavachanam, Ritwikgvaranam, Panchakalavahanam and Chananottaram. Hereditary trustee of the temple P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his family members would be the first to have darshan, as per tradition in practice at the temple, at 3 a.m. It would be followed by a representative of the Endowments department offering 'pattu vastrams' to the deity, on behalf of the State government. This would be followed by presentation of 'pattu vastrams' (silk robes) by the TTD following by darshan by VVIPs and VIPs. Devotees will be allowed to get a darshan of the deity from 4 a.m. Protocol VIPs will be allowed to have darshan from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. There will be no 'ashirvachanams' and 'antaralaya' darshanam on April 30. The queue lines would be closed at 7 p.m. and devotees who have already entered the queue would be allowed darshan of the deity till the end of the last person standing in the queue. Devotees going for 'free darshan' and ₹300, ₹1,000 and ₹1,500 ticket holders would be allowed to have darshan from the 'Neeladri mandapam'. The 'Nijarupa darshanam' would conclude with 'abhishekam' and other Vedic rituals at 11 p.m. RTC will provide free bus services from 4.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for devotees going up and coming down the hill. The RTC buses will not ferry passengers from the foothill to the hilltop after 6 p.m. They will however continue to ferry passengers from the hilltop to the foothill even after 6 p.m. Meanwhile, District Collector MN Harendhira Prasad and Joint Collector K. Mayur Ashok inspected the arrangements for the Chandanotsavam festival on Tuesday (April 29). The Collector directed the officials concerned to arrange water, biscuits and buttermilk for devotees in the queue lines and milk for children. Mobile toilets should be provided on the hill and at the foothill for the convenience of devotees. He directed Medical and Health authorities to conduct medical camps and keep ambulances ready in case of any emergency.
