5 hours of long wait at Thirupathi
Posted on: 02/Jan/2016 4:50:59 PM
The Thirupathi temple looked fully packed with devotees yesterday, the first day of the New Year. There were devotees at the temple to get blessings of lord Yezhumalayaan. Most of them had arrived at the temple the previous day night.
The shrine was opened at 3 a.m. yesterday and special pooja and abhishegam were done. This was followed by special worshiping by VIPs. All the other devotees were made to worship only at 7 a.m. yesterday.
Instead of allotting special timing for the VIPs, all the devotees were made to worship the lord at the same time. Those who had come for free dharshan had to wait for about 5 hours for their chance to worship the lord. Those who chose to walk had to wait for four long hours and those who had bought tickets online for Rs 300 waited for about three hours.
Owing to the eve of New Year, the Maha Dhwaram was decorated with sugarcane, flowered banana trees, coconut brunches, and Paakku, Kamugu, etc. Further, it was decorated with many fruits including apple, orange, guava, etc. The entire length between main entrance and golden tree was decorated with flowers and serial bulbs. All devotees who worshiped lord for the eve of New Year were given special offerings yesterday.
Annadhanam (food offering to the devotees) also did take place yesterday. Drinking water, buttermilk, milk, cool drinks, curd, etc were offered to the devotees for free. The transportation department of Andhra Pradesh government had taken efforts to facilitate devotees with special buses to the Dhevasthanam, and the policemen were engaged in securing the public.
All the safety measures and worshiping facilities were supervised by Saambasivarav, Thirumalai Thirupathi official, Srinivasa Raju, associate officer, and other officials.
The crowd received for this New Year is lesser than previous year, said one of the officials at Thirupathi.
