Rathotsavam in Mantralayam

For the second time in its history, the Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy Math at Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh witnessed a shower of flowers from a helicopter on the chariot that carried the statues of Prahladaraj — who is believed to be an incarnation of Sri Guru Raghavendra — during Rathotsavam on the Uttararadhana day on Tuesday. The event was part of the aradhana celebrations, a week-long annual event.

The flowers were offered by Prasad Duttajirao Patil, an industrialist from Pune, Maharashtra, in his own helicopter. As per the math sources, the same service had been offered in 1986 by a Mumbai-based devotee.

Mantralayam witnessed a heavy turnout of devotees from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and other parts of the country on the fifth day of the 344th aradhana celebrations.

Sri Subudhendra Teertha, the seer of the math, delivered a message in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages, wishing for a peaceful and prosperous world. He said his math had devotees from all walks of life, irrespective of caste, creed, socio-economic status and other distinctions.

After delivering his message and completing the rituals, the seer flagged off the rathotsavam. While the devotees pulled the decorated chariot that carried the statues of Prahladaraj and Sri Guru Raghavendra, the seer, along with Prasad Duttajirao Patil and S.N. Suyameendrachar, personal secretary to Subhudhendra Teertha, offered flowers from the helicopter.

Before the rathotsava began, Sri Subudhendra Teertha offered special pujas to the idol of Moola Rama at the brindavan of Guru Raghavendra Teertha. The seer and the math staff, as per the traditions of the math, smeared colours on each other's faces which was followed by the devotees.

Various cultural troupes performed during the event. Heavy police force and volunteers were deployed for crowd management.