Thu Jan 09 22:20:00 UTC 2025: ## Simhachalam Temple Gears Up for Mukkoti Ekadashi Festivities
**Visakhapatnam, January 10, 2025** – The Simhachalam Varaha Lakshmi Narasimhaswami Temple in Visakhapatnam is prepared for the annual Mukkoti Ekadashi celebrations on Friday, January 10th. Temple officials, along with engineering and police personnel, inspected the arrangements on Thursday.
Lord Narasimhaswami will appear as Vaikunthavasu (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) at the North Gate of the temple. Temple Executive Officer (EO) Srinivasamurthy announced that entry to the inner sanctum and the main gopuram (tower) will be strictly prohibited. Only ticketed entry will be allowed; no free passes will be issued. Tickets for special darshan will be available from 3 AM on Friday at a cost of ₹500.
The EO urged devotees to maintain order and decorum to ensure a peaceful darshan. A detailed schedule has been released, including:
* **1:00 AM:** Suprabhatam seva
* **3:00 AM:** Ayyavari seva
* **4:15 AM:** Special pujas at the North Gate, followed by the first darshan for the hereditary trustee and their family.
* **4:30 AM – 5:00 AM:** Special decoration of the deity at the North Rajagopuram.
* **5:00 AM – 11:30 AM:** Public darshan of the deity adorned as Vaikunthavasu on a decorated platform.
* **12:00 PM:** Tiruveedi utsavam (processional ceremony)
* **2:00 PM – 4:00 PM:** Maha Nivedana (grand offering); temple closed to devotees during this time.
* **4:00 PM – 6:00 PM:** Public darshan resumes.
* **7:00 PM:** Night pooja; temple closes to devotees.
Approximately one lakh laddoos (a sweet offering) have been prepared for distribution. The temple has been decorated extensively with flowers. Around 400 police personnel, including two ACPs, ten CIs, and twenty SIs, will be deployed for traffic management and security.
Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam district’s Department of Endowments is ensuring similar robust arrangements are in place across all Vaishnava temples in the district, taking extra precautions in light of recent incidents at Tirupati.
First Piper 