Nagarkurnool: Three-day Saleshwaram Jathara begins at Nallamalla forests

Apart from Telangana, devotees from Karnataka and Maharashtra turned up in large numbers to seek the darshan of the Lord

Nagarkurnool: The environs of Nallamalla forests under Lingala mandal in the district reverberated with “Om Namah Shivaya” chanting as the three-day annual Saleshwaram Jathara of Lord Shiva commenced on Wednesday.

Apart from Telangana, devotees from Karnataka and Maharashtra turned up in large numbers to seek the darshan of the Lord. Serpentine queues of devotees were witnessed in the deep jungle after entering from the Farhabad entry point on the Srisailam – Hyderabad route.

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Devotees reach the temple from Farhabad end via Nizam Rest House and park their vehicles at Rampur Chenchupenta and trek four kms to reach the temple.

Similarly, vehicles were permitted from Lingala to Gundala via Appaipally and from there devotees had to trek for about 15 kms to reach the temple.

The forest department has initiated several steps to ensure there was no inconvenience to the devotees, especially clearing the waste dumped by devotees in the jungle.

This year, emphasis was laid on barring the use of plastic. Voluntary organisations offering free food to the devotees were serving the food in traditional leaf plates, said Amrabad FDO Rohit Gopidi.

To do away with polythene covers, paper bags and plates were provided to the temple management to distribute the prasadam for the devotees.

Further, 75 volunteers from the local Chenchu tribes were roped in clear the trash and waste in the forest. On Wednesday, three trucks-load of waste was cleared, said the FDO, adding that as a preventive measures, three fire tenders were deployed in case of any wildfire or any untoward incident.