The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Religious fervour marks ‘Chandanotsavam'

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Monday, May 17, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Religious fervour marks ‘Chandanotsavam'

Staff Reporter

Spiritual tour: Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and his wife offering prayers at Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Religious fervour and gaiety marked the annual ‘Chandanotsavam' of Lord Varaha Lakshmi Nrusimha Swamy, the presiding deity of Simhachalam, as thousands of devotees thronged the temple for His darshan on Sunday.

It's only this day (Chandanotsavam) of the year that the original form of the Lord can be seen as the sandalwood paste covering the idol is removed and devotees are allowed to have darshan from the early hours of the day till a fresh coat of sandal paste is applied after special prayers late in the night.

On Saturday night priests performed special pujas to the idol with water from the ‘Gangadhara' (natural spring at Simhachalam). The hereditary trustee of the temple, Ananda Gajapathi Raju and his family members were the first to have darshan of the Lord.

Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan visited along with his family members and offered prayers. He was received by the Executive Officer of the temple Prem Kumar. Minister for Tribal Welfare P. Balaraju offered pattu vastrams to the deity on behalf of the State Government. Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) EO I.V.R. Krishna Rao offered pattu vastrams on behalf of the TTD.

Union Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju, Mayor P. Janardhana Rao, District Collector J. Syamala Rao, Police Commissioner J. Purnachandra Rao, Zilla Parishad Chairman G. Rammurthy Naidu were among the dignitaries who had darshan early in the morning.

Lack of coordination between the various departments was evident with devotees picking up arguments with the temple authorities for the poor arrangements. The police had a tough time in controlling the surging crowds.

Archakas walked out of the temple and staged a protest for sometime in protest against the poor arrangements. Devotees also flayed the authorities for attending only to VIP s like Ministers and peoples' representatives and officials while neglecting common devotees.

Devotees expressed gratitude to various voluntary organisations that served free butter milk and drinking water sachets.

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