Bhagyalakshmi Temple queues extended to Gulzar Houz near Hyderabad’s Charminar on Monday as thousands of devotees gathered for Diwali prayers and to receive silver coins known as Khazana, prompting police to regulate traffic and manage crowds in the congested heritage precinct.
The coins are placed at the feet of the goddess during the Deepawali puja, after which each devotee receives one. One side of the coin carries an image of Goddess Lakshmi and the other depicts Charminar. Devotees believe that keeping the coin at home brings prosperity.
Families arrived from across Hyderabad and from outside the city for the annual ritual. Temple organisers said the distribution would continue until Wednesday night, meaning the area is expected to remain busy during the remaining days of the festival.
The growing turnout has increased waiting times for devotees. Harshitha, who travelled from Dilsukhnagar, said she waited nearly two hours for darshan. Srilatha, a devotee from Kushaiguda, said she had visited the temple every Diwali since childhood and that the crowds had changed significantly.
“Until 2019, there used to be very little rush, but now devotees have to wait for hours in queues,” Srilatha said. Her account points to the operational challenge created when a long-running religious tradition attracts a much larger audience than in previous years.
Temple trustee Shashikala said the turnout was unexpected and that the final number of visitors would be known after the coin distribution ended. She also said she was the fourth generation in her family to continue the tradition. Organisers attributed part of the increased attendance to social media.
Police managed traffic and crowds around Charminar as queues occupied approaches to the temple. The location, in one of Hyderabad’s busiest and most tightly built historic areas, makes crowd movement dependent on the coordination of temple organisers, police personnel, visitors and surrounding road users.
Some families raised concerns about the long waits and the risk of a stampede. A family from Kushaiguda said it was waiting for the crowds to thin before entering the temple. The reported concerns come as visitors continue to arrive for darshan and coin distribution.
The temple organisers have said that Khazana coin distribution will continue until Wednesday night. The number of visitors and the final scale of the crowd will be known after the distribution concludes.
