For the second consecutive day on Saturday, the pilgrim crowds at the sacred hill abode of Lord Venkateswara remained unabated.
Devotees who had reached the town from nook and corner of the country for ‘Vaikuntha Dwara' darshan’ undeterred by the inclement conditions preferred to stay back in the protracted darshan lines with the management categorically declaring that the heavenly passage will be kept opened till in the midnight.
About 60,000 devotees had the darshan since in the morning compared to about 74,000 pilgrims on the Ekadasi festival day on Friday. According to information available by 4 p.m. all the 55 compartments in both the queue complexes were full to their capacity and more than 30,000 pilgrims were still in waiting for the ‘Vaikuntha dwara darshan.’
On the other hand, Dwadasi Chakrasnanam was observed amidst great religious ecstasy at Swamy Pushkarini where the priests ceremoniously gave a bath to the idol of chakrathalwar in the tank waters.
Meanwhile, officials anticipate the pilgrim crowds to continue for a couple of days in view of the New Year.
