The grand eleven-day Dasara festival at the revered Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam, nestled atop the picturesque Indrakeeladri hills and home to Goddess Kanaka Durga, concluded triumphantly on Thursday. This year’s celebrations witnessed an astonishing turnout, with close to 1.5 million devotees participating – a remarkable 10% increase from last year’s impressive 1.25 million. The festivities culminated with the sacred Purnahuti rituals, marking a spiritual high point for all.
As dusk fell, priests meticulously performed the revered Hamsa Vahanam sevas. This traditional ceremony involves seating the processional deities on a magnificent swan-shaped celestial boat. Due to the Krishna river being in full spate, a safety precaution was taken: the boat was gracefully anchored near Durga Ghat, where all the customary rituals were devoutly observed, substituting the usual river procession.
The festival also proved to be a significant financial success for the temple, generating an impressive revenue of ₹4.38 crore during the celebration period from September 22 to October 2. A substantial portion of this, ₹3.60 crore, was attributed to the sale of an astounding 2.11 million laddus, with the remaining income coming from ticket sales, special prayer offerings, and other donations. Executive Officer V.K. Seena Nayak highlighted the extensive arrangements made for devotees, including continuous annadanam (free meals) and readily available free water stations. Special care was also provided for elderly individuals, those with disabilities, and mothers with infants. He further noted the phenomenal popularity of the laddu offerings, with 2.97 million laddus sold by Thursday evening, and specially priced six-laddu gift boxes at ₹100 proving incredibly popular.
The spiritual fervour continued even after Vijaya Dasami. On Friday, the day immediately following the main festival, the temple witnessed an enormous influx of Bhavani devotees, particularly from the North Andhra regions. These devout worshippers, easily identifiable by their traditional crimson attire, embarked on a barefoot pilgrimage to the shrine. Each carried an ‘irumudi’—a sacred twin-socket bag brimming with rice and other auspicious offerings—as they chanted the divine name of the Goddess with unwavering devotion.
Given the continued high water levels of the Krishna river, temple authorities prudently implemented restricted access to ensure the safety of all pilgrims. Despite this, dedicated provisions were made at the river ghats, allowing Bhavani devotees to perform their essential ritual cleansing baths before making their way uphill to receive the sacred darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga.