The long-awaited Lepakshi Utsavalu was inaugurated on Saturday evening by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the temple village of Lepakshi.
Mr. Naidu, who arrived by road in Lepakshi from Bengaluru, inaugurated the two-day fete that features various art forms, besides exhibition and food stalls representative of the heritage and cuisine of the area.
Earlier in the day, TDP MLA and cine actor Nandamuri Balakrishna inaugurated various activities related to the festival beginning with a procession of the presiding deity – Veerabhadra Swamy – in Lepakshi village at 8 a.m.
Mr. Balakrishna also inaugurated a road leading up to western entrance of the famous Lepakhsi temple named after former President of India, V.V. Giri. He also launched a book Lepakshi – Chitra Kalalaku Kanachi and a video on the cultural and architectural heritage of the Lepakshi temple.
He also inaugurated the village sports competition.
Meanwhile, people began visiting the Lepakshi village from the morning to take part in various activities planned as part of the programme. However, quite a few had a rough day, with police restricting the movement of vehicles in view of the visit of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
