Special rituals were performed for Sri Ramanavami inside the temple of Lord Venkateswara here on Thursday.
After the completion of the daily rituals, all of which were performed in ‘ekantham’, the priests ceremoniously carried out ‘Snapana Thirumanjanam’ to the idols of Lord Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman at Ranganayakula mandapam. The idols were given a celestial bath with milk, curd, honey, coconut water, turmeric and sandalwood paste amid chanting of verses from Taittiriya Upanishad, Pancha Sukthas and Divya Prabandham by a battery of Vedic scholars.
The celebrations culminated with the priests conducting ‘Asthanam’ (court) at the Nadimi Bangaru Vakili inside the sanctum sanctorum.
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The procession of Hanumantha Vahanam around the thoroughfares of the hill town, which otherwise used to be a regular event on the Navami festival, was dispensed with amid the COVID-19 scare.
The senior and junior Jeeyars, Executive Officer Anilkumar Singhal, Additional EO A.V. Dharma Reddy and Deputy EO (temple) Harindranath were among those who took part in the celebrations.