30,000 devotees take holy dip on 3rd day of Pranahita Pushkaralu

Mancherial/Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Venues of Pranahita Pushkaralu in Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts registered a rise in heavy influx of devotees on the third day on Friday. The venues created at Arjunagutta and Devulawada villages of Kotapalli mandal, and Vemanapalli mandal centre of Mancherial district and Thummidihetti village in Koutala mandal of Kumram Bheem […]

Mancherial/Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Venues of Pranahita Pushkaralu in Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts registered a rise in heavy influx of devotees on the third day on Friday.

The venues created at Arjunagutta and Devulawada villages of Kotapalli mandal, and Vemanapalli mandal centre of Mancherial district and Thummidihetti village in Koutala mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district saw a spurt in quantum of devotees who had holy dip in the river. The devotees belonged to different parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. They arrived at the venues using different means of transit.

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According to officials of the Endowments and revenue departments, about 10,000 devotees had a dip at Arjunagutta Devulawada and Vemanapalli mandal centres each. They visited nearby temples in Vemanapalli mandal headquarters and Chennur town following the dip. Some of them thronged the ancient Sri Kaleshwara-Muktheswara Swamy temple in Kaleshwaram of Prof Jayashankar Bhupalapalli district.

Similarly, ghats created in Sironcha Taluq centre and Nagaram village in Sironcha Taluq of the neighboring Maharashtra recorded over 10,000 devotees. Officials said that the influx of devotees would go up by Sunday. Due to scorching heat wave conditions, the devotees are not showing interest to participate in the festival celebrated for every 12 years.

The devotees performed rituals thanking the river goddess and seeking heaven to their elders and ancestors. Some of them lit diyas and released in the river and molded sculptures of Shiva Linga using sand. Voluntary organisations provided butter milk and water sachets to the devotees. Bellampalli MLA Durgam Chinnaiah and Sirpur (T) legislator Konappa fed the devotees at the venues.

Meanwhile, Collector Bharati Hollikeri, District Forest Officer Shivani Dogra and Mancherial Assistant Commissioner of Police S Rashmi Perumal along with their spouses had a holy dip in the river at Arjunagutta village in Kotapalli mandal. She instructed officials concerned to take steps to create basic amenities and to avoid inconvenience to the devotees during the mass bathing event.

The IAS officer told the authorities to maintain the premises of the venues clean and to lift plastic and trash. She asked the rescue teams to control devotees taking holy dip in deepest spots. She instructed the police to take steps to prevent untoward incidents and traffic snarls.

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