TIRUPATI: Rottela Panduga-the Roti festival, got off to a spectacular start as lakhs of devotees from across the country congregated at Nellore to take part in the inaugural proceedings of this unique festival on Wednesday.
The mujavars of the dargah began the day’s celebrations by using sandal to signify the beginning of the utsav. After the rituals, the dargah surroundings witnessed a surge of crowds with long queues being formed by the devotees during the day.The most important and highly venerated part of the festival is the ‘Gandha Mahotsavam’ (sandal paste utsavam), which will take place at the dargah on Thursday night.
Muslim devotees queued up to the Bara Shaheed Dargah in very large numbers and offered special prayers, followed by the unique tradition of exchanging rotis, which is believed to help them fulfill their worldly desires.
This annual festival which began at the Bara Shaheed Dargah at Nellore on Wednesday will conclude on July 21. Nellore district administration is anticipating that nearly 25 lakh devotees may take part in the Rottela Panduga this year.
Nellore district collector O Anand and SP G Krishnakanth told reporters that elaborate arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of this annual festival over the next five days.
While 2000 plus police personnel will remain on guard to ensure the festival goes on smoothly without any untoward incidents, nearly 6000 odd sanitation workers have been deployed to ensure that the entire premises divided into seven zones are maintained cleanly till the end of the festival.
