Spiritual exuberance permeated Bhadrachalam as Lord Sri Rama was united in wedlock with His consort Sita Devi amid great pomp and grandeur on Sunday marking the celebration of Sri Ramanavami in the temple town.
The flower bedecked Mithila Pranganam abutting the temple complex reverberated with Vedic hymns during the elaborate rituals that marked the ‘celestial wedding’ attended by hordes of devotees from far and wide.
Earlier, the processional idols of Lord Rama and Sita were brought to the venue in a tastefully decorated palanquin. The idols were richly adorned with dazzling ornaments, including Patchala Pathakam and Chintaku Pathakam, gifted by the 17th Century saint composer Bhakta Ramadasu.
Endowments Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy presented ‘mutyala talambralu’ and ‘pattu vastrams’ to the ‘divine couple’ on behalf of the State government in tune with the temple customs.
Temple traditions
As per the decades old temple traditions, it is customary on the part of head of government, in the present day context the Chief Minister, to present mutyala talambralu to the temple deity at the annual celestial wedding.
However, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao could not attend the event this time due to the Election Model Code of Conduct, sources said. Mr. Indrakaran Reddy presented mutyala talambralu after obtaining the EC’s nod for complying with the age old temple traditions.
However, the officials of the Endowments and other allied departments remained tight-lipped about the matter.
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao attended the annual celestial wedding in Bhadrachalam twice in 2015 and 2016 since the formation of Telangana in 2014.
Other temples
Representatives from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in Andhra Pradesh, Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Tamil Nadu and various other famous shrines and religious ‘mathas’ from across south India presented traditional silk clothes to the temple deity during the Sitarama Kalyanam in Bhadradri, popularly known as “Ayodhya of South”, on Sunday.
