27 devotees from Delhi fall prey to accommodation fraud, stranded at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh

TIRUPATI: A group of 27 devotees from Delhi, who arrived on a pilgrimage to Srisailam via Hyderabad on Saturday, were left stranded without accommodation after they came to know that they had booked rooms through a fake website.Anand Kumar, one of the victims, told reporters that he had booked nine AC rooms for his family at Mallikarjuna Sadan in Srisailam and paid ₹15,000 through UPI.“We had no clue that the website through which we booked our rooms was fake, until we reached Mallikarjuna Sadan. When we asked the staff for our rooms, they told us that no accommodation was booked in our names. We showed them the booking details, and they said that we had been conned," Anand Kumar said.Srisailam executive officer Srinivasa Rao ensured that the group got free accommodation and darshan.Srisailam temple, which is dedicated to Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy, is one of India’s most sacred Hindu shrines. Lakhs of devotees visit the temple as it is revered as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and is also one of the 52 Shakti Pithas. While Lord Shiva is worshipped as Mallikarjuna, his consort Goddess Parvati is depicted as Bhramaramba. The scenic temple is located on the Nallamala hills along the Krishna river in Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh.