Now Reading: Nearly two lakh devotees throng Gudivanka hill shrine for Adi Krithika
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Nearly two lakh devotees throng Gudivanka hill shrine for Adi Krithika
Nearly two lakh devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu thronged the hilltop temple of Lord Muruga at Gudivanka in Chittoor district on Friday for the annual Adi Krithika celebrations. A…
The Story in Brief
Nearly two lakh devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu thronged the hilltop temple of Lord Muruga at Gudivanka in Chittoor district on Friday for the annual Adi Krithika celebrations. A steady stream of devotees began trekking the hillock from Thursday evening, many dressed in traditional attire carrying kavadis. Some devotees pierced their skin with hooks and pulled weights as part of intense devotion.
Superintendent of Police Tushar Dudi said 200 police personnel were deployed for bandobast. The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation operated 20 special buses round the clock between Kuppam bus station and Gudivanka, with additional services from towns in Tamil Nadu. Thousands more offered prayers at nearby temples in Palamaner, Chittoor, and at Tiruttani, Palani and Maruthamalai.
The Indian Opinion
The devotion on display at Gudivanka is genuine, but the festival's scale raises questions the administration must answer. Claims of seamless management often gloss over the risks when two lakh people climb a hill. The test will be whether the State Endowments Department and police can sustain crowd control, water supply, and emergency response year after year without a major incident. Did anyone count the number of first-aid posts?
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
