Rajahmundry-Godavari maha pushkaram - a river fete touted as 'the Kumbh mela of South India' - which occurs once in twelve years, begins on Tuesday in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and for twelve days it will be celebrated in the two Telugu-speaking states, but nowhere with greater religious fervour or enthusiasm than here.
Rajahmundry is considered the place for taking a holy bath in the great river - a symbol of time and eternity - and for performing rituals for one's ancestors and pilgrims in their thousands flock the ghats along the river at Rajahmundry on the eastern side and at Kovvuru on the western side. It is estimated that more than three crore pilgrims may visit the town during the pushkaram.
The Andhra Pradesh Government is pulling out all stops to make it not only a memorable event for the devout but an occasion for promoting the new state after the bifurcation and for promoting tourism. Certain new features have been added during the pushkaram such as helicopter rides for pilgrims/tourists to view all the ghats here and at Kovvur in West Godvari. Laser shows are also being organised during the twelve days.
P. Raghunadha Reddy, the State Cultural Affairs Minister, said that on Monday, on the eve of pushkaram, a big "aarti" procession would be taken out to the river involving more than 1,000 artistes. Cultural programmes would be organised here and in other towns in the two Godavari districts with many eminent artistes participating in them. Dr. Mangalampalli Bala Murali Krishna, the eminent carnatic music maestro and exponent, Shobha Naidu, the Kuchipudi dander, Hariprasad Chaurasia, the eminent flute exponent, and several others will participate in the event, he added.
The bathing ghats at Rajahmundry, Kovvuru, Narasapur, Kotipalli, Antarvedi, Masakapalli and other places in the two Godavari districts have been made ready to cope with the pilgrim rush. The temples in the two districts have been spruced up for the occasion.
The South Central Railway (SCR) and the East Coast Railway (ECoR) have arranged several special trains to Rajahmundry from Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam and the APSRTC has arranged special buses from all over AP and Telangana to Rajahmundry.
IVR service
The State Government has also arranged interactive voice response (IVR) service for the benefit of pilgrims. The pilgrims can give a missed call to 8333000020 and after the call is disconnected they will receive the call giving the information relating to ghats, hotels, and roads. In addition, 25 information kiosks will be arranged in the town.
State Endowments Minister Manikyala Rao said all arrangements had been made to make it a memorable pushkaram for the public.
The pushkaram begins at 6.26 am on Tuesday.