The ancient temple of Lord Sri Pallikondeswara Swamy at Surutupalle village of Nagalapuram mandal in the district has been decked up for the five-day ‘maha kumbabhishekam’ from January 19 to 23.
The ritual, held once in 12 years, involves performing ‘maha homam’ for five days. A hundred ritwiks from prominent Siva temples across the country participate.
A massive structure for the ‘yagasala’ was built recently, for which two Chennai-based devotees donated ₹35 lakh.
The Maha Kumbabhishekam will be performed at all temples inside the main complex, housing Shaivite deities. The Raja Gopuram has been given a facelift and the temple complex and a part of the Chennai national highway have been illuminated.
Chief priest Karthikesan said during the ritual, for which 96 aromatic spices would be used, some of the prominent events would be Ankurarpana, Gopuja, Maha Sankalpam, Surya and Chandra pujas.
The temple chairman, Tiruneelakantan, said thousands of devotees from Chittoor and Nellore districts and several parts of Tamil Nadu were expected to throng Surutupalle.
Meanwhile, the Nagalapuram police have made arrangements besides roping in security personnel from the nearby Sri City. “Apart from making provision for distributing prasadams to devotees, we have made accommodation arrangements for them,” he said.
Historical significance
The temple saw its glory under patronage of Chola and Pallava rulers until 14th century.
Just a kilometre away from Tamil Nadu’s Uttukottai, the temple draws multitudes of devotees from the State during festivals.
Administered by the State Endowments department, this temple is the only one to have Lord Siva in a reclining posture on the lap of Goddess Parvati.
Ardent devotees from Tamil Nadu worship him as ‘Sayana Sivan’.
