The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : VIPs' visit marks Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations at Tirumala

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Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Others

VIPs' visit marks Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations at Tirumala

Staff Reporter

Devotees in large numbers from various parts throng temples in Tirumala and Tirupati

AUSPICIOUS OCCASION: A sea of humanity having a glimpse of the deity on the `Golden Chariot' at Tirumala on Tuesday on the occasion of `Vaikunta Ekadasi' even as an armed security man is keeping a watch.

TIRUMALA: Vaikunta Ekadasi festival was observed at Venkateswara temple on Tuesday with religious fervour.

The temple was opened at 12.30 a.m. and after completion of the daily rituals the sacred Vaikunta Dwaram -- the holy passage encircling the innermost sanctum of the presiding deity -- was opened amidst chanting of Vedic hymns.

State Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde, Governor of Bihar Buta Singh, over a dozen judges belonging to several States including a couple of Chief Justices and Ministers of State visited the temple along with their families.

Chief priest of the temple A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu not only explained the importance of the hill temple to the dignitaries but also about the sanctity of the Vaikuntam Dwaram which is opened only once a year.

Dignitaries honoured

Later the temple priests honoured the dignitaries with the silk vastrams of the Lord, while TTD executive officer, A.P.V. Narayana Sarma presented them with prasadam.

It has been estimated that till evening over 60,000 devotees, who had queued up since Monday, passed through the dwaram. Idols of Lord Malayappa along with his two consorts mounted atop the flower bedecked golden chariot were taken around the mada streets encircling the sacred shrine.

The Vaikunta Dwaram will be kept opened for devotees even on Dwadasi (Wednesday).

Staff Reporter from Tirupati adds local temples were not left far behind in celebrating the festival.

Braving biting cold locals started pouring into scores of temples in the town right from dawn.

The temples of Lord Govindaraja, Kodandarama, Varadaraja, Padmavathi (Tiruchanur), Kalyana Venkateswara (Srinivasa Mangapuram) and Prasanna Venkateswara (Appalayagunta), situated in and around Tirupati were swarming with devotees throughout the day. The temples were colourfully decorated with flowers of all hues and serial lights illuminated cut outs were installed all over town.

Elsewhere in the district also, Lakshminarayana temple (Vepanjeri), Kalyana Venkateswara temple (Narayanavanam), Vedanarayana temple (Nagalapuram), Pattabhiramalayam (Valmikipuram) and Karia Manikyaswamy temple (Nagari) witnessed moderate to heavy crowd.

Draws flak

Meanwhile, the distribution of passes by the TTD drew flak. The allegation was that the number of passes was so huge that the queues were teeming with VVIPs alone and the common pilgrims were left out.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha criticised the situation, stating that only politicians and those who could afford it, besides those covered under protocol norms, had benefited from the whopping 20,000 passes distributed on the day.

Accusing the TTD trust board members of cornering the lion's share of passes, the morcha has also demanded that details of the VVIPs who had benefited from the move be made public.

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