The devout celebrated ‘Varalakshmi vratam’ with fervour and gaiety on Friday. Some of the temples of goddess Lakshmi were well decorated with fresh flowers, jewellery and silk robes.
With ‘Sravana masam’ considered auspicious across communities, Telugu people in the city woke up in the wee hours of the day to perform ‘vratam’ followed by elaborate arrangements. While some performed puja using the readymade idol of ‘Varalakshmi’, a few others followed the rituals by arranging a ‘kalasam’ full of gold coins, dry-fruits and currency coins.
“We follow the tradition of decorating a coconut as goddess Lakshmi. The silver-plated features like eyes, nose and lips of the goddess will be attached to the turmeric-smeared coconut and then placed on the kalasam before performing the puja,” says A.V. Santha, home-maker at Lawson’s Bay Colony.
Most Telugu women prepared ‘boorelu’, ‘garelu’ and ‘paramannam’ for the vratam. While some offered nine varieties to the goddess, others included seven to five items in their menu.
A few Tamilians in the city celebrated ‘Varalakshmi vratam’ by drawing elaborate pattern of ‘ma-kolam’ (rangoli made of ground rice) bordered with ‘chemman’ (diluted red brick powder) and offering special items to the goddess as naivedyam . “Normally, I make kozhakattai (kudumulu) for the festival. But this year, I prepared ‘chakkara pongal’ and ‘medu-vadai’ (vada) along with other items for the occasion,” says S. Usha, Tamilian residing at Venkojipalem.
Temples performed special puja to invoke the blessings of goddess of wealth and prosperity. The deity of Sri Kanyaka Parameswari temple in One Town Area was decked up with golden sari and jewellery worth ₹1.5 crore, contributed by a number of devotees.
