Devotees visiting Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple in Tirumala on Friday faced several problems ranging from hampered Darshan to difficulty in reaching hotels as a heavy rain battered the city under the influence of Mandous cyclone.
Ujjain Collector Ashish Singh said, "It costs Rs 374 to make about 1 kg of Laddus. But bearing a loss of Rs 14, the temple committee will now provide the Laddu to the devotees for Rs 360."
The followers arrived here to seek blessings of Kabir on the occasion of Aghan Purnima which is being celebrated today. These followers come from various regions and they walked for about 15 kilometres on foot in dense forests to reach the Taposthali. After that they bow down their heads and
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer (EO) AV Dharma Reddy has said that like last year devotees will be given darshan at Vaikuntha for ten days this year too starting from January 2nd to 11th.
Shriram Sharma Pujari from the Mahakaleshwar temple told ANI that footfall had increased significantly around the Diwali celebrations, so much so that it was impossible to arrange a 'darshan' of the sanctum sanctorum for all the visiting devotees.
At least six devotees were killed and four others were injured after a minivan, full of devotees, collided with a minivan on the National Highway at Boddugudem in Alluri Sitharama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh.
Officials of Andhra Pradesh have been directed by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy to take steps for the medical aid of the 44 Andhra pilgrims en route to Sabarimala in a bus that met with an accident at Kerala's Pathanamthitta.
The 41-day Mandala season begins today with the start of the month of Vrishchikam of Malayalam calendar and will end on December 27. Live booking facilities have been set up for the devotees, who could not book their darshan slots via online mode.
Devotees started gathering at Ram Ghat in large numbers in the early morning and took holy dips in the holy Kshipra river. This was followed by pujas and rituals organized by priests and attended by devotees during the lunar eclipse period on Tuesday.