The Sri Rama Navami celebrations remained a low-key affair in the city on Wednesday. Temples and local community associations chose to celebrate without fanfare owing to the steep rise in the coronavirus infections in the State.
However, a festive mood prevailed as devotees visited local markets to buy mango leaves to decorate their houses. The activity at Rythu bazaars remained more or less the same. But, artisans selling the Rama idols in Vijayawada said that they had incurred losses as there were a few buyers.
The festival were organised at Ramalayam at Satyanarayanapuram, Besant Road, One Town, Kodanda Rama temple at Patamata, the Ram Mandiram at Eluru Road and Sri Abhaya Anjanaya Swamy temple on Ghat Road in Vijayawada among other places.
As part of the celebrtations, the wedding of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita was performed at 12 noon on punarvasu nakshatra yukta abhijit lagna pushkaramsa. However, the rituals were confined to the temples. There were no huge gatherings.
The temples echoed with songs like ‘Sri Sita Ramula Kalyanam Chuddamu Rarandi’, ‘Kalyana Vaibogame, Sri Sita Ramula Kalyana Vaibogame’ and the film songs of ‘Lava Kusa’ and other movies. Several Rama and Anjaneya Swamy temples in the city reverberated with the chants of Jai Sri Rama, Kodanda Rama, and Janaki Rama. The temple trustees distributed panakamto people. Besant Road, which used to wear a festive look for nine days, surprised many with a little activity. There were no huge pandals that used to welcome the devotees. The priests performed the wedding of the processional deities.
On Besant Road, the Sri Sitarama Kalyana Mahotsava Abhivruddhi Committee organised Swamy Kalyanam in the presence of hundreds of devotees. The committee has been organising the Kalyanam every year since 1955.
