Devotees suffer as VIPs queue up at Medaram

As several public representatives and prominent personalities turned up at Medaram to have darshan of Sammakka and Saralamma on Friday, devotees were put to a lot of inconvenience.

Due to the visits of Governors and the Chief Minister, people were left to stand in queues as their movements were halted. The devotees offer jaggery and coconuts to the deities. They throw their offerings into the altar enclosure, where those inside could get hurt. To avoid this, the officials stopped queues completely and cleaned the altars filled with jaggery to make it convenient for VIPs to have darshan. This exercise was taken up twice when Governors and the Chief Minister arrived. The devotees had to wait for at least one hour and some of them fell sick.

It was only after the VIPs had left that devotees were allowed to enter the temple. However, there was a scramble. It was so forceful that some devotees sustained injuries when the barricades were thrown asunder.

Adding to the ordeal was the arrival of public representatives, who came along with their family members and followers. Despite the VIP darshan route, they broke jumped lines to take a short cut into the temple. Meanwhile, despite restrictions imposed in the vicinity, the VVIPs convoy halted right in front of the temple. This caused inconvenience to the devotees in the already crowded area. It also caused traffic snarls and ambulances failed to to attend emergency calls. The devotees expressed anger over the inconvenience caused to them.