Procession of Golden chariot dominated the religious proceedings on Wednesday the penultimate day of the Navaratri Brahmotsavams at Tirumala.
Thousands of devotees had queued up along the mada streets hours in advance to catch a divine glimpse of the eye-popping procession of Lord Malayappa and his two consorts riding the Golden Chariot. The mada streets were packed with the devotees who had converged in huge numbers the previous night. The town wore a festive look as it milled with pilgrim activity since the small hours of the day. The congregated devout went into raptures as the chariot rolled by. A clear bluish sky provided the perfect backdrop for the flamboyant festival that lasted for about two hours.
Earlier 'Ratharohanam' was ceremoniously observed at the pre-designated Kanya lagnam between 4.10 am to 4.45 am at the Ratha mandapam.
The temple Hundi registered a record income of Rs. 16.14 crore during the last seven days of the festival period as against Rs. 16.28 crore during the Salakatla Brahmotsavams last month. Authorities also revealed that about 6.54 lakh devotees had the darshan of the deity inside the temple when compared to 7.15 lakh last month. Similarly about one lakh pilgrims had the darshan of the presiding deity inside the temple on the day of Garuda seva as against 85,000 pilgrims during last month.
Meanwhile the TTD JEO KS Srinivasa raju at a high level meeting took stock of the arrangements being made for the Chakrasnanam scheduled on Thursday. About 26 expert swimmers also have been assigned duties at the Pushkarini to meet any kind of exigencies arising out of the situation during the grand event. (Eom)
