Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Chariot festival organised in Kadiri

ANANTAPUR: The annual chariot festival of Kadiri Laxminarasimha Swamy was held amid religious fervour and gaiety at Kadiri in the district on Thursday.

A large number of devotees, more than a lakh, gathered from different parts of the State and from the neighbouring States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to participate in the ‘rathotsavam’.

The rituals commence with bringing out the idols of Laxminarasimha Swamy and his consorts in the wee hours on the concluding day of annual ‘brahmotsavam’.

Rituals like ‘nava kalasha pratishta’, ‘maha samprokshana’, ‘koormanda bali” and others followed. Usually the chariot begins its journey through the ‘thiru veedhis’ at 7.30 a.m but it was delayed by about one-and-half hour this year due to malfunction of wheel. The procession got further delayed as the chariot hit a pole and its wheel got stuck in a drain.

The devotees showered ‘dhavanam’ (leaves of a particular species) and black pepper on the chariot during its ‘pradakshina’.

Kadiri legislator Jonna Ramaiah and temple trust chairman Pratap Reddy symbolically pulled the chariot to launch the festival.

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