Splendour marked the procession of Golden chariot observed on Sunday, the sixth day of the ongoing nine-day annual Brahmotsvams of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.
Tens of thousands of devotees witnessed the colourful procession of the dazzling golden chariot organised during the twilight on Sunday. The congregated devotees went rhapsody as the majestic chariot rolled down the streets of the temple town and the air was charged with the chanting of ‘Govinda namam’. The overcast sky with a picturesque backdrop of a setting Sun added to the grandeur of the pageantry.
The processional deity of Lord Malayappa Swamy flanked on either side by his two divine consorts mounted atop the golden chariot was dragged amidst great ecstasy by the visiting devotees. The effervescent procession lasted for more than an hour.
Earlier in the morning, the Lord paraded the temple streets mounted atop the golden Hanumantha vahanam.
The deity, donning the role of Lord Rama with the golden bow and arrow in his hands seated on the imposing Hanumantha vahanam, was the cynosure of eyes of tens of thousands of congregated devotees .
Meanwhile, the temple ‘Hundi’ netted a whopping income of about Rs. 10.50 crores (estimatedly) till day, despite a poor turnout in the pilgrim crowd during the first three days of the festival owing to its concurrence with the Vinayaka Chaturthi and nation wide bandh on the following day.
The APSRTC ferried over 1.40 lakh pilgrims to Tirumala by organising over 2,100 services on Saturday on the eve of Garuda seva in a single day besides moving down over 60,000 devotees to Tirupati.
The day finally came to an end with the procession of Gaja vahanam in the night.
