Telangana: Vemulawada temple decked up for Maha Shivaratri jatara
Rajanna-Sircilla: Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple, Vemulawada has been decked up for Maha Shivaratri jatara, the three-day annual fair that will start on Monday.
Elaborate arrangements have been made for jatara by spending Rs 1.65 crore since about three lakh devotees are expected to visit the shrine from different parts of Telangana as well as adjacent States such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra and Chhattisgarh on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, district administration and temple authorities have taken all precautionary measures to check the spread of the virus and are focusing more on sanitation.
District Collector Anurag Jayanthi and Superintendent of Police Rahul Hegde, who had conducted a meeting with officials twice to review arrangements, have divided the temple town into eight zones and allocated zones to officials of different departments.
TSRTC authorities will operate 770 buses in different routes to transport devotees. On the other hand, 14 buses will be operated from the Vemulawada bus stand to the shrine to transport pilgrims free of cost.
Besides decorating all allied shrines as well as the temple town with attractive lighting, pandals were arranged in more than three lakh square feet area for the convenience of the devotees. Besides the VIP parking place at the temple tank area, four normal parking places are arranged in different areas of the town.
Temple authorities have deployed water tankers to supply water to devotees. Three RO plants (4,000 liters capacity) were established in the temple. Devotees standing in queue lines will be supplied drinking water and buttermilk packets by the representatives of NGOs.
Four baby feeding centers have also been set up in the temple premises this time around. Since the temple tank has been closed in the wake of Covid pandemic, 140 showers are arranged to take baths by devotees besides arranging water tankers.
Giving top priority to sanitation, authorities have taken all steps to maintain the shrine clean. Besides 500 temporary works, sanitation workers working in various municipalities of erstwhile Karimnagar district are also deployed. Temporary toilets and bio-urinals are also established.
16 medical camps are arranged in different places including temple tanks, allied temples, bus stands and other areas. 189 medical and health department staff including doctors and paramedical staff will provide first AID and other treatment to devotees. Voluntary organizations have come forward to distribute masks and sanitizers to devotees.
While 115 CCTV cameras already exist in the temple premises, 250 more cameras are arranged for the peaceful conclusion of jatara. A total of 400 cameras are there in the temple town. All the cameras have been interlinked to the command control room. About 1,500 police personnel of different cadres have been deployed to conduct jatara in a peaceful manner by maintaining law and order.
1,500 cultural artists would entertain devotees by organising Shivarchana programme. A huge dais and other arrangements are made for Shivarchana at the temple tank parking place.
Temple executive officer Rama Devi said that they made all arrangements for the convenience of devotees. Informing that they would give top priority to common devotees, she said they enhanced the number of queue lines for the convenience of ordinary pilgrims.
When asked about covid precautionary measures, she informed that sanitizers and masks were available in medical caps. NGO have come forward to distribute sanitizers and masks to devotees, she said.
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