The temples in the city have been decked up for the nine-day Sarannavaratri celebrations, scheduled to begin on Saturday.
On the opening day, goddess Kanaka Mahalakshmi will be decorated in the form of Adilakshmi and ‘laksha kumkumarchana’ would be performed from 9 a.m. onwards.
Special pujas like ‘lakhsa kumkumarchana’, ‘laksha chamantula archana’, ‘laddu puja’, ‘kaluvapula archana’, ‘pushpa yagam’, ‘laksha tulasi’, ‘lakhsa gajulu’ and ‘sakhambari puja’ would be performed on each day. The goddess will be decorated in nine different avatars during the nine days.
“We have made arrangements to ensure sanitisation and social distancing of devotees. Only those coming with masks will be allowed into the temple.
Senior citizens above 60 years of age and children below 6 years will not be allowed in view of COVID-19 protocol,” Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi temple Executive Officer S. Jyothi Madhavi said on Friday.
Elaborate arrangements were made at Sri Sarada Peetham at China Mushidiwada in Pendurthi as a number of people are expected to visit the peetham during the nine-day festival.
Swami Swaroopanandendra Saraswati and Sri Swatmanandendra Saraswati will perform ‘abhishekam’ to the presiding deity of Rajasyamala temple on the peetham premises. Srimad Devi Bhagavatam parayanam will be held every day at 9.30 a.m. on all the nine days. Goddess Rajasyamala will be decorated as Bala Tripura Sundari, Maheswari, Vaishnavi, Lalitha Tripura Sundari, Annapurna, Maha Saraswati, Mahalakshmi, Mahishasura Mardhini, and Vijaya Durga. The daily rituals will be telecast live on social media and cultural programmes would be staged on all the days.
Devotees will be allowed only for ‘darshan’ during the nine-day festival at Sri Durgalamma temple at Velampeta.
They will not be allowed into the sanctum sanctorum in view of COVID-19 guidelines. EO K. Srinivasa Rao appealed to devotees to sanitise their hands before entering the temple and to observe physical distance.
