Sri Rama Navami was celebrated with great enthusiasm across the district on Friday. ‘Seetarama Kalyanam’ was performed at all the temples of Lord Rama amid chanting of Vedic hymns by priests.
Hundreds thronged the temples since early morning and large gatherings were seen before the main Sri Rama temples at Subashnagar, Raghunathalayam atop Quilla Indur, Ramalayam on Dichpally fort, Sidhula Gutta and Tirmalapur.
Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha, her husband Anil and family members, MLA (rural) Bajireddy Govardhan were among those who attended the celestial wedding at Ramalayam atop Quilla Dichpally, while Minister for Agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Armoor MLA A. Jeevan Reddy participated in the celebrations at Tirmalapur and Sidhulagutta respectively. In the district headquarters town, all roads led to Ramalayam at Subashnagar where celestial wedding was performed on a grand scale followed by a community lunch hosted for tens of hundreds of devotees.
Special Correspondent adds: Sri Rama Navami was celebrated on a grand scale here on Friday. The celestial wedding of Lord Rama and his consort Seeta was celebrated with much pomp and religious fervour. Nearly 20,000 devotees arrived here from surrounding hamlets and villages to take part in the celebrations at Gandhi Park behind Sri Rama Mandiram. Teacher Voore Rama Koteswar Rao, who was the convenor of the festival committee for over 50 years, passed away two years ago. Now, his son Gurunadha Rao, who is also a teacher, was made the convenor by legislator B. Shankar Naik and other elders. Temple Ramothsava Committee members Voore Gurunadha Rao, J. Venkateshwarlu (president) and M. Nageshwar Rao (secretary) Sham Loya and others made elaborate arrangements for the event. Sri Rama Navami celebrations were held for the first time in 1959, organised then by the local railway authorities. In 1970, civilians took over and formed a committee.
In 1983, the Endowments Department took over the temple affairs. MLA Banoth Shankar Naik attended the event and witnessed the wedding and presented ‘silk vastrams’ and ‘thalambralu’ to the deities. The rituals, conducted by priests with pearl ‘talambralu’ brought by Mr. Banoth Shankar Naik, were keenly watched by the gathering. Volunteers of S.S Loya Trust, Vasvi Club supplied water, buttermilk and ‘prasadam’ to the devotees. They also assisted in serving food at the temple. Sri Rama Navami was also held at Rama temple at Revenue Colony in Hanamkonda on a grand scale.
Staff Reporter adds: Rama temples across the district witnessed a large number of devotees participating in ‘Seetarama Kalyanam’. Former legislator T. Jayaprakash also took part in the celebrations at old Ramalayam in Sangareddy.
