President Droupadi Murmu will be in Vijayawada on 14 and 15 October 2026 for a two-day visit timed with the Sharad Navratri festivities, Andhra Pradesh officials have said. According to Deccan Chronicle, her programme includes prayers at the Kanaka Durga temple on Indrakeeladri hill and the inauguration of a national-level SARAS Mela on the banks of the Krishna at Punnami Ghat.
The itinerary has been published in detail. On 14 October the President leaves Delhi at 3:55 pm and reaches Gannavaram airport at 6:25 pm, then travels by road to the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam, where she will offer prayers between 7:20 pm and 7:40 pm. She will stay in Vijayawada overnight. On 15 October she will inaugurate the SARAS Mela at 11:30 am, take lunch with members of self-help groups, and leave Gannavaram at 2:45 pm for Delhi.
SARAS Mela is an exhibition of products made by women self-help groups, held under the rural development programme. Deccan Chronicle reported that more than 600 stalls will show products made by women from self-help groups from across the country, while other reports mentioned more than 500 stalls, so the exact number of stalls is not settled. The President is also expected to meet “Lakhpati Didis”, women who have built annual incomes of at least one lakh rupees through self-help group enterprises, according to those reports.
The state government has been preparing for the visit. Chief Secretary G. Sai Prasad held a virtual review meeting and directed officials to “ensure strict adherence to protocol norms, leaving no room for errors” and to “meticulously follow the guidelines issued by the President’s Secretariat”, the newspaper said. The reports reviewed do not give details of traffic or security arrangements, which are usually announced by the city police shortly before a presidential visit.
Vijayawada is already crowded with festival traffic. The Kanaka Durga temple is among Andhra Pradesh’s most important shrines and draws large numbers of devotees during Dasara Navaratri, and the city has been holding the Vijayawada Utsav 2.0 cultural programme at Punnami Ghat, where the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh chief ministers met on 13 October. Devotees planning to visit the temple on the evening of 14 October may face restrictions on darshan during the President’s prayer slot.
The Kanaka Durga temple, officially the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam, stands on the Indrakeeladri hill on the banks of the Krishna river, according to Wikipedia. Its deity is shown in an eight-armed standing form, piercing the demon Mahishasura with a trident. The temple’s legend, about the goddess’s victory over Mahishasura, is central to the Navratri celebrations that the President’s visit coincides with.
It is the President’s visit that gives the SARAS Mela national visibility this year. The event is a market for rural women’s products as well as a showcase for the self-help group movement, which the Union and state governments promote as a route to rural livelihoods. IndiaX24 will report on the inauguration, on any announcement made at the event, and on the traffic and darshan arrangements issued by Vijayawada police.
Featured image: The gopuram of the Kanaka Durga temple on Indrakeeladri hill, Vijayawada (file photo). Photo by Srikar Kashyap, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.