Thousands of devotees thronged the famous Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple at Arasavalli and other Vaishnavite shrines on the auspicious occasion of Ratha Saptami on Monday.
Thanks to the advanced planning by the authorities in different temples, devotees could have a hassle-free darshan of the presiding deity at a majority of the places.
‘Ksheerabhishekam’
Devotees converged at the Arasavalli temple in Srikakulam district from the late night of Sunday to celebrate the festival which is also known as Surya Jayanti. Priests performed ‘Ksheerabhishekam’ between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sarada Peetham head Swami Swaroopanandendra performed the ‘Ksheerabhishekam’ and explained about the importance of the temple of Sun God and the presiding deity.
Collector P. Lakshmi Narasimham, Superintendent of Police A.S. Khan and other top officials invoked the blessings of the god. Devotees milled in from North Andhra region and Odisha. APSRTC operated over 50 buses from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Rajam, Palakonda, Tekkali and some other places. Devotional fervour marked the Ratha Saptami festival at Nagalapuram in Chittoor district. The festival has special significance at the temple of Lord Vedanarayanaswamy temple here. Lord Vishnu manifests here as the protector of sacred Vedas.
The processional deity of the Lord Vedanarayana along with his consorts was taken around the temple streets in seven celestial vehicles, including Suryaprabha, Chandraprabha, Hanumanta, Hamsa, Aswa, Chinna Sesha and Peddasesha Vahanams, in addition to Tiruchi vehicles. In Nellore city, Ratha Saptami was celebrated in a grand manner at Sri Ranganadha Swamy Temple located Ranganayakulapeta.
The temple authorities made elaborate arrangements for the celebrations with the presiding deity appearing on ‘Surya Prabha Vahanam’.
Devotional fervour marks the festival at Nagalapuram in Chittoor district
The Lord is taken in a procession on seven different ‘vahanams’
Sarada Peetham head Swami Swaroopanandendra performs ‘Ksheerabhishekam’
