Karnataka: Ashlesha Nakshatra has Kukke temple authorities dealing with 'serpentine' queues

MANGALURU: Ashlesha Nakshatra, the embodiment of Mercury and strength of serpent God is keeping authorities of Karnataka’s richest endowment temple at Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Temple on the tenterhooks. Eagerness of devotees for solutions to their problems on the day Ashlesha, the ninth nakshatra in the zodiac is on the ascendancy, has seen serpentine queues form outside ashlesha bali booking counters at this temple, some 113-kms from Mangaluru.
Keeping burgeoning demand for this niche seva in mind, the temple authorities in last week of September had increased the number of tickets to 75 from 30. They also increased the batches to three by restoring the evening batch to go with batches in the morning. This meant that a maximum of 225 devotees can participate in the seva each day. A ticket allows entry to two persons including the person who is offering the ashlesha bali seva.
Ravindra M H, executive officer of the temple told TOI that the confluence of the stars, and the accompanying rain has only further reinforced the faith of people. “This has led to a surge at the booking counter and we are dealing with it to the best of our abilities,” he said. Devotees come from far and wide and are naturally disappointed when they cannot make the cut for the seva given the SOP in place on account of the pandemic, Ravindra explained.
The average daily footfall that was 3000 before the various sevas re-started under the unlock guidelines has reached pre-Covid daily numbers in excess of 10000. Before the sevas started, the devotees would have darshan and leave. With the government declaring Dasara holidays, this number is only expected to swell in the coming days, Ravindra said, adding the temple is bracing for the flood of devotees who will come calling in the days ahead.
The temple initially offered 30 tickets each for sarpasamkara, nagaprathishta seva and equal number of tickets for those wanting to perform ashlesha bali in two morning batches with the evening batch cancelled. Ten tickets were offered for mahapooja and panchamrutha abhisheka seva. Each ticket allows entry for two persons. But the mad rush and people throwing caution to winds forced the temple to rethink these seva numbers.
M J Roopa, additional deputy commissioner and administrator said demand for ashlesha bali peaked on general holidays, two days of ‘Shasti’ in the month and on the day of ‘ashlesha nakshatra’. To meet this rush, we increased tickets for this seva on above days to 100 from 75 in three batches. Devotees beyond this quota will only receive ‘prasad’ and are not allowed for ‘homa’. Only devotees with tickets will partake lunch. Roopa noted.