Amid devotees rush, six-km-long traffic jam on Srisailam highway

Hyderabad, April 13 (IANS) Six-kilometre-long traffic jam was reported on the Srisailam highway in Telangana's Nagakurnool district on Sunday, as a sea of devotees headed for the Saleshwaram Jatara.

According to officials, the traffic jam was mainly due to the delay in paying toll tax at Mannanur checkpost in Amrabad mandal. The Forest Department collects the toll from vehicles proceeding to Saleshwaram.

The delay led to a six-kilometre-long traffic jam on Srisailam Ghat Road from the checkpost to Siddapur Cross, which caused severe hardships to devotees, including women and children.

Volunteers and Forest Department staff were trying to control the traffic.

Every year, a jatra is held at the Saleshwaram Lingamayya Swamy temple on the occasion of Chaitra Purnima, the first full moon of the Hindu lunar year.

Devotees from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh attend the three-day Saleshwaram jatara, known as Telangana's Amranath yatra.

With Sunday being the last day of the jatra, a large number of devotees queued up at the temple.

The long traffic jam is also attributed to hundreds of devotees heading to the Mallikarjuna Swamy temple or the Srisailam temple in Andhra Pradesh.

The crowd at Jatara and the Srisaialm temple swelled due to Hanuman Jayanti and a series of holidays.

According to officials, many devotees were also trekking to the Saleshwaram Lingamayya Swamy temple, located in the forest and surrounded by hillocks. They were having darshan and making offerings.

There are three walkways to the temple, which is believed to have been built in the sixth or seventh century.

The temple authorities already urged devotees to cooperate during the yatra. They were warned against carrying plastic covers, water bottles, and other plastic items into the forest. Devotees were advised not to travel alone in the forest.

The authorities also imposed a complete ban on alcohol consumption and warned that action would be taken against violators.

Since there is a possibility of forest fires in view of the summer, devotees were directed not to carry matchboxes or other items to light the fire.

--IANS

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