Andhra Pradesh Government will ensure hassle-free darshan for devotees on Rathasaptami day: Union Minister Rammohan Naidu

State Government enhances security measures for Rathasaptami festival at Arasavalli temple to prevent stampede incidents, ensuring smooth darshan.

Against the backdrop of the Tirupati stampede incident, the State Government is putting special efforts to prevent such untoward incidents during celebration of Rathasaptami, the biggest festival of Arasavalli Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple in Srikakulam district.

More than four lakh devotees are expected to have darshan of the Sun God in Arasavalli temple on the day of Rathasaptami on February 4, 2025.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu has been holding review meetings with senior officials to ensure hassle-free darshan for the devotees this year. He said all devotees can have darshan this year without any issues as the government was taking special care for Rathasaptami, which would be celebrated as the State festival this year.

According to sources, many influential people including police personnel have been misusing VIP queue lines to ensure darshan for their own family members.

With the continuous flow of unauthorised persons in the VIP queue line, the devotees who have valid ₹100 and ₹500 tickets are being forced to wait for several hours. The devotees in free queue lines are also victims every year. A stampede-like situations prevails every time although there were no casualties during previous years.

The devotees are also facing troubles with the selection of congested routes for their exit. There is no chance for collection of shoes and chappals as the distance between entry and exit route is almost two kilometres. Only philanthropists are serving food and water packets as the Endowments Department is taking little care of devotees. Mr. Rammohan Naidu, who noticed these issues, directed the officials to ensure that the devotees do not suffer inconvenience.

Andhra Pradesh Sadhu Parishad President Swami Srinivasananda asked the government to take the support of volunteers of Indian Red Cross Society, National Cadet Corps (NCC) and other organisations to ensure discipline in the queue lines. “The officials are forcing everyone to walk from Indira Vignan Bhavan to the temple. It should operate vehicles for regular devotees also although a few vehicles are kept for patients and physically challenged persons. Many middle aged people have been facing troubles walking for nearly 2 km,” he added.