The annual ‘Giri pradakshina’ at Simhachalam concluded peacefully without any major complaints despite unprecedented crowds converging atop the hill to pray at the temple of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Nrusimha Swamy on Guru Pournami on Tuesday. An estimated 3.5 lakh devotees converged on the hill from the early hours of Tuesday, after the 32-km arduous trek around the Simhachalam hill range.
It took around one-and-a-half hours for vehicles to reach Simhachalam from Gopalapatnam as against the normal time of about 15 minutes, which indicates the crowd on the road on Tuesday. The City Police regulated the vehicles and ensured the smooth passage of devotees at junctions. Voluntary organisations rendered yeomen services to the devotees. Temple Executive Engineer KVS Koteswara Rao and Deputy Executive Engineer Ch.V. Ramana and their team oversaw the arrangements under the supervision of Executive Officer K. Ramachandra Mohan.