It was a sea of humanity at Kuppam, with the 16-day Tirupati Gangamamba Jatara entering the penultimate day on Tuesday. Devotees in large numbers thronged the town from the bordering areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, to take part in the procession of the presiding deity through the streets.
The two-centuries-old event celebrates the legendary occasion of Lord Venkateswara chopping off the cheek of his sister Gangamamba to prevent her from eating corpses. Later, he bestowed her the boon to be the village Goddess wherever the remnants of her chopped cheek had fallen, according to the legend.
The event which commenced on May 8 witnessed cultural programmes in a big way with artistes from all over South India enthralling people. On May 21, the agnigundam ritual (walking on embers) was over, and the police heaved a sigh of relief with no untoward incident being reported.
On Tuesday morning, the head of the processional deity was taken out from the separate chamber inside the temple complex, and after richly decorating it, was readied for public procession which commenced at 9 a.m. From the Balipeetam point, the procession took off to cover all the streets. The procession is expected to conclude on Wednesday morning, taking over 24 hours.
Thousands of households along with their relatives and friends from neighbouring states offered sacrifices of livestock as the procession continued.
On Wednesday morning, the deity’s head will be adorned on the torso of the presiding deity at the main temple, and the spectacle would remain till midnight for public darshan. Later on Wednesday night, the head will be removed and confined to a separate chamber. Only for one day in a year, the deity will give darshan with its head.
The district police administration arranged security by deploying over 500 personnel.
