Long queues of devotees lead to traffic congestion at several places

Hyderabad, 12th January 2014:  

The idol of Sri Ranganatha Swamy being taken out in a procession at a temple at Jiaguda on Saturday on the occasion of Vaikuntha Ekadasi

Unusual rush of devotees was witnessed at Balaji temples in the city on Saturday on the occasion of ‘Vaikuntha Ekadasi’ or ‘Mukkoti Ekadasi’.

Traffic police were on tenterhooks as serpentine queues of devotees resulted in traffic congestion at major points.

Second Saturday

The rush was partly attributed to the festival coinciding with Second Saturday.

The landmark Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam temple at Himayatnagar opened its portals to devotees at 3 a.m. The temple witnessed heavy turnout after 5.30 a.m.

The queue of devotees, directed by traffic police towards Domalguda, reached A.V. College in no time and continued to grow till 4 p.m. After an hour’s breather, people began streaming in again, resulting in traffic congestion.

The temple at Chikkadpally, too, experienced heavy rush from early morning, hitting vehicular movement. Policemen were posted at all temples to manage the situation.

Worse was the situation at Namala Gundu, where the temple is located at a busy junction. “I waited for one-and-a-half hours at the temple for darshan. The queue was very long. Vehicles parked on the road increased the congestion,” said Subrahmanyam, a devotee from Seethaphal Mandi.

Traffic congestions were reported at Uppal Ring Road, where vehicles lined up for two to three kilometres from 8 a.m.