Religious fervour:Devotees waiting in queues for darshan at the Sri Gidde Perumandla Swmay Devasthanam in Karimngar on Sunday.

Karimnagar, October 14, 2013: The Dasara festival was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety in various parts of Karimnagar district on Sunday.

In Karimnagar town, devotees were seen in serpentine queues, waiting for darshan at the ancient Sri Gidde Perumandla Swamy Devasthanam in Rampur. People from all walks of life offered prayers to the presiding deities Lord Ganesha and Hanuman.

MP Ponnam Prabhakar, former MLC Naradasu Laxman Rao and other Congress leaders took part in ‘Shami Puja’ at the shrine. The people were busy performing the special rituals at all the shrines and Durga pandals as part of the ‘Ayudha Puja’.

However, the confusion over the conduct of Dasara festival had lead to poor turnout of devotees at the Sri Gidde Perumandla Swamy Devasthanam. As majority of the devotees have decided to celebrate the festival on Monday, the pilgrim rush declined considerably on Sunday.

Even, the Devasthanam authorities also failed to make adequate arrangements for the devotees on Sunday. Even as the devotees were arriving at the shrine, the municipal staff were making electrification of the shrine. Ironically, the shrine was not decked up for the Dasara festival and no painting works were done. Several devotees also complained over the poor arrangements .

Source: The Hindu, October 14, 2013