Religious ecstasy marks ‘Pranaya Kalahotsavam’

Deities being taken out in a procession as part of ‘Pranaya Kalahotsavam’ at Tirumala on Tuesday. —Photo: By Arrangement

Fervour marked the ‘Pranaya Kalahotsavam’ observed on Tuesday at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara.

The festival is the typical enactment of a love game between the Lord and his two divine consorts wherein the former tries to win over the dispirited hearts of the latter. The festival is generally organised on the 21st day during the Dhanurmasam period. As part of the festival, the deities were taken around the mada streets encircling the hill shrine in opposite direction.

The melodramatic love game is enacted by the priests when the two processions arrive face-to-face at the north-east corner of the temple. The priests get divided themselves into two groups. While one group took the side of the Lord, the other group helped the goddess.

As part of the festival, the deities are taken around the mada streets encircling the hill shrine in opposite direction