Eight lakh devotees take part in Simhachalam Giri Pradakshina
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Visakhapatnam
: A staggering 8 lakh devotees participated in the Giri Pradakshina, a 32-kilometer spiritual walk around Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy's temple on Simhachalam Hill in Visakhapatnam.
Despite the massive turnout, which doubled compared to previous years, the event proceeded without any untoward incidents.
The temple management extended Narasimha Swamy's darshan timing to 10:30 pm on Wednesday and initiated darshan at 3:30 am on Thursday to accommodate the increasing number of devotees. Devotees unable to complete the 32-km trek were offered pradakshina within the temple from early Thursday morning until afternoon.
At Tholi Pavancha, lakhs of coconuts were piled up, and the temple management arranged 60 queue lines for devotees to break coconuts before commencing their walk.
However, due to the sheer number of devotees, many broke coconuts on the road and proceeded with their Giri Pradakshina.
The event was not without its challenges, as traffic congestion became a major issue. Devotees and the general public were trapped in traffic jams at Isukathota, Venkojipalem, Hanumanthawaka junctions, and other areas, leading to vehicles being stuck for two to three hours.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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Traffic restrictions necessitated parking vehicles five to six km away from the temple, increasing the Giri Pradakshina distance to over 40 kilometers for thousands of devotees.
Despite the chaos, the temple management and authorities ensured a hassle-free experience for the devotees. The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) authorities used artificial intelligence-based facial recognition technology to track the number of devotees accurately.
Drones hovered overhead to check for stampedes, and geo-tags were placed on children's hands to prevent them from getting lost.
A senior police officer estimated that around 8 lakh devotees took part in the Giri Pradakshina and acknowledged that managing the roads without traffic restrictions would have been impossible.
The priests conducted special rituals and offered approximately 125 kilograms of sandalwood mixed with fragrant substances to the deity early on Thursday morning. Executive officer Vendra Trinadharao expressed gratitude to all officials, staff, and contributors for the successful completion of the Giri Pradakshina, which was completed peacefully and incident-free with the deity's blessings.
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