A Dossier on Visakhapatnam
Authorities expects nearly one lakh devotees to visit Simhachalam temple
Simhachalam, May 12, 2010
The temple of Lord Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, the presiding deity of Simhachalam is getting ready for the annual Chandanostavam to be held on May 16 and the authorities expects nearly one lakh devotees from various parts of the country. The original form of the Lord can be seen only that day as the sandal wood paste covering the idol is removed and special prayers are offered before a fresh coast of sandal paste would be applied in four spells of 125kg each. The old sandal, covering on the idol, would be removed by scraping with golden scrapers on the night preceding Chandanostavam.
The first spell of the fresh coat would be applied after Sahasraghatabhishekam, the second one spell would be applied on the auspicious Vaisakha Poornima, the third one on Jeysta Poornima and the final one on Ashada Poornima. During the last three days, 125kgs of sandal paste were prepared on the precincts of the temple by dozens of staff. Chief Priest Mortha Seetharamacharayulu supervising the sandal preparation on Tuesday. On Saturday night, priests would perform special Pujas to the idol with water from Gangadhara. The chest and head of the idol of the Lord would be covered with lumps of sandal paste, even as the old sandal covering is removed to keep Him cool.
Nearly 20 free buses, including APSRTC will operate from the foothill to the temple for the convenience of the devotees on that day. On the issue of passes, a decision was taken not to issue during the year. Apart from free darshan, there would be special queues for Rs.500 and Rs.200 ticket holders. Only handful of VVIPs would be allowed through the Rajagopuram and there would be 10 prasadam counters and only laddus would be sold on that day and two additional counters would be opened to sell the old sandal wood scrapped from the idol. The Executive Officer C Prem Kumar said that the hereditary trustees of the temple Ananda Gajapati Raju and his family members would be the first to have Nijaroopa Darshan around 3.30am and later dignitaries would be allowed followed by the general public.
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