Spectacular Dasara festivities began at the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam in Vijayawada

The Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam hosted a spectacular start to the Dasara celebrations on October 15. On the first day of the celebration, Goddess Kanaka Durga—the chief goddess of the temple perched atop Indrakeeladri—was decked and revered as "Sri Bala Tripura Sundari Devi."

The priests performed rites like "Suprabhata Seva" at 3 a.m., "Snapanabhishekam" at 3.30 a.m., "Balabhoga nivedana" at 6.30 a.m., and "nitya archana" at 7.30 a.m. to kick off the celebrations.

After having a sacred plunge in the Krishna at the Durga and other ghats, devotees from all over Andhra Pradesh and the adjoining States arrived at the temple at approximately five in the morning and stood in lengthy lines.

Around 80,000 worshippers arrived for the deity's darshan, on the first day, according to estimates from the temple. Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and his spouse Sameera received a darshan from the Goddess, on the first day. The monks gave them a customary greeting called "poorna kumbham." They were escorted into the temple for darshan by Executive Officer K.S. Rama Rao, NTR district Collector S. Dilli Rao, Joint Collector P. Sampath Kumar, and devasthanam chairman K. Rambabu. The Governor and his spouse were given "sesha vastram," "prasadam," and a picture of the presiding god following "Vedasirvachanams."

On the first day, the deity was darshan by Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Endowments K. Satyanarayana, Ministers P. Viswaroop and R.K. Roja, and Vice-Chairman of the A.P. Planning Board Malladi Vishnu. Subsequently, Mr. Satyanarayana declared that every preparation had been done to guarantee the devotees a hassle-free darshan. After looking through the lines, he requested that the official leave no room for error. According to him, concerns about the 500-ticket line were promptly resolved. The devotees in the lines were receiving milk, buttermilk, and biscuits, he claimed.