The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Venkateswara temple to get a facelift

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 29, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Venkateswara temple to get a facelift

Staff Reporter

TTD to renovate temple 40 years after taking it over from ASI

BEING REVAMPED: A view of the Sri Kalyana Venkateswara temple in Srinivasa Mangapuram near Tirupati .

Tirupati: The Sri Kalyana Venkateswara temple in Srinivasa Mangapuram here is in for a facelift as the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) management has taken up repair and renovation work on a large scale for the first time after taking it over forty years back.

After the mandatory purificatory rituals like ‘Balalayam’ and ‘Ashtabandhanam’, the five-day ‘Maha Samprokshanam’ is currently on in the temple.

Administration

The temple was earlier under the total control of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and the TTD took it over only in 1967, in view of its mythological and historical significance.

The day-to-day administration is run as per the TTD rules, while ASI permission is essential even for minor works. Apart from some repairs to the ‘Vimanam’ in 1970, the shrine remained as it is since then, though religious scriptures prescribe performance of ‘Maha Samprokshanam’ once in twelve years.

As part of the renovation project, the holes at the ‘Peetham’ of the main deity were plugged to prevent seepage of ‘Abhishekam’ water, the ‘Makara Thoranam’ (the divine arch resembling a halo behind the deity) was replaced, repairs taken up to the cut-stone flooring and stone masonry walls and to the ‘Kulasekharapadi’ (the stone doorstep at the threshold in front of the sanctum sanctorum).

The doorframe of the ‘Mukha Mandapam’ was refurbished and the existing brass ‘Kalasams’ atop the Vimanam were replaced with gold on copper.

The cleansing of the ‘Vimana Kalasams’ atop the sanctum sanctorum with holy waters marks the grand finale on Nov 1.

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