Visakhapatnam: Annaprasadam resumes at night in Simhachalam

Visakhapatnam : Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘annaprasadam’ facility came to a halt at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam during nights. However, even as the coronavirus phase came to an end, the facility did not resume at the shrine for different reasons. Those who stay overnight find it difficult to access food at Simhachalam uphill as there is no such facility at the Devasthanam until recently.

Apart from Andhra Pradesh, devotees from Odisha, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar visit the shrine frequently. During summer, Dasara and Pongal vacations, hundreds of pilgrims will visit the shrine for the darshan of Lord Narasimha Swamy. They generally reach the temple a day before the darshan schedule and prefer to spend time for a few days uphill.

The trust board members of the temple recently brought the plight of the devotees, who could not access food uphill at nights, to the notice of newly-appointed Executive Officer S Srinivasa Murthy. Following which, the EO made a field visit and interacted with the devotees to understand their issues faced during nights. After meeting them, the EO decided to restore the annaprasadam facility at night.

Speaking to The Hans India, Srinivasa Murthy said, “Annaprasadam facility resumed as requested by the trust board members and after interacting with the devotees. For the convenience of the devotees, prasadam will be distributed to 200 devotees a day.”

A group of devotees and realtors G Jagdeesh, P Santosh, N Pydiraju and K Jagdeesh of Appannapalem area donated cooking utensils worth Rs.1 lakh for annadanam purpose.