Union Minister for Civil Aviation K. Rammohan Naidu, Minister for Agriculture K. Atchannaidu, and MLA Gondu Shankar, traditionally carrying pattuvastrams, to offer them to the presiding deity, Lord Sri Suryanarayana Swamy, at the Arasavilli Sun God temple on the occasion of Ratha Saptami festival, celebrated on January 25, 2026. Photo: Special Arrangement
India’s famous Sun God temple on Sunday (January 25, 2026) witnessed an unprecedented rush of devotees who came to Arasavilli in Srikakulam district to have darshan of the presiding deity Sri Surynarayana Swamy on the festival day of Ratha Saptami.
There were serpentine queues of devotees for ‘sarva darshan’, ticket holders, and donors right from the early hours of Sunday (January 25). The devotees who waited for darshan from Saturday (January 24, 2026) night had a terrible time with jostling and stampede-like situations.
Fortunately, there were no untoward incidents in spite of the jostling in the queue lines. Against this backdrop, the police department allowed pilgrims into the queue lines in a staggered manner to prevent stampedes in the queue lines.
Collector Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar, Superintendent of Police K.V. Maheswar Reddy, and other officials personally tried to calm down the devotees in the backdrop of their protests. They complained that they were being disrespected by the police personnel in spite of having valid tickets bought at the counters.
Mr. Pundkar requested local people to have darshan of the Sun God only in the afternoon in view of the heavy influx of devotees from other areas. He said that every devotee would get an opportunity in spite of the heavy rush, as a staggered approach was implemented to ensure hassle-free darshan with adequate safety measures.
Mr. Maheswar Reddy said that the ₹500, ₹100 ticket holders and donors were also requested to wait patiently for their turn till the completion of the darshan of the devotees who waited in the queue lines.
Earlier, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Minister for Agriculture K. Atchannaidu, and Srikakulam MLA Gondu Shankar offered pattuvastrams in a traditional manner to the presiding deity at around 12:15 a.m. and participated in Ksheerabhisekham.
Minister for MSME Kondapalli Srinivas, Minister for Home Vangalapudi Anitha and other VIPs also had darshan in the early hours. Later, the devotees had ‘Nijarupa darshan’ of the presiding deity who is believed to bless the people with health and wealth.
Published – January 25, 2026 11:18 am IST
