Ratha Saptami Draws Huge Devotee Surge to Arasavilli
The Sun God temple at Arasavilli in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district saw an unprecedented rush of devotees on Sunday for Ratha Saptami, resulting in long queues and heavy crowding.
Devotees stood in serpentine queues from early morning for sarva darshan, including ticket holders and donors. Many who had waited since Saturday night reported severe jostling and near stampede-like conditions in the queues. No untoward incident was reported.
Police allowed pilgrims into the queues in a staggered manner to ease congestion and prevent a stampede. District Collector Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar and Superintendent of Police K.V. Maheswar Reddy, along with other officials, were at the temple to pacify protesting devotees. Some alleged disrespectful behaviour by police despite holding valid tickets.
Pundkar urged residents to plan a darshan in the afternoon due to the heavy influx from other areas. He said the staggered system was introduced to ensure safety and that all devotees would get a chance for darshan.
Maheswar Reddy said Rs 500 and Rs 100 ticket holders and donors were asked to wait until those already in the queues completed their darshan.
Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Agriculture Minister K. Atchannaidu, and Srikakulam MLA Gondu Shankar offered pattuvastrams to the deity around 12.15 am and took part in Ksheerabhishekam. MSME Minister Kondapalli Srinivas, Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha, and other dignitaries also had darshan early in the morning.
Later, devotees had Nijarupa darshan of the presiding deity, believed to bless devotees with health and prosperity.