Overview
- The month-long Ashada Saare (Ashada Maasam) festival formally began Wednesday with a procession from the 'Om' turning on Ghat Road and priests and Vedic scholars offering the first ceremonial saare to Goddess Kanaka Durga.
- Temple authorities have introduced a mandatory registration system for sari-offering groups that requires an authorization slip and directs entrants along a single route from Kanaka Durga Nagar through the Mahamandapam.
- Executive Officer V. K. Seena Nayak inspected arrangements and held a review with senior city police to finalise security, traffic and crowd-control deployments for the hilltop shrine.
- The Devasthanam has barred mobile phones, cameras and luggage for saare groups, set up deposit counters that will confiscate devices found inside the complex, and installed cloakroom and free-footwear facilities to streamline entry.
- Officials expect heavy pilgrim turnout during the month and have added services such as annaprasadam distribution, extra bus runs and drinking-water points to ease queues and reduce heat-related strain on devotees.