Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, accompanied by his wife N. Bhuvaneswari, offering ‘silk vastrams’ ahead of the ‘Sita Rama Kalyanam’ at the Sri Kodandarama Swamy temple, at Vontimitta in Kadapa district on Friday.
| Photo Credit: K.V. POORNACHANDRA KUMAR
The ‘Sita Rama Kalyanam’ performed as a State festival at the ancient Sri Kodandarama Swamy temple at Vontimitta in Kadapa district on Friday turned out to be a visual delight for the tens of thousands of devotees who gathered at the venue.
The temple, which is also called ‘Ekashilanagaram’ in view of its carving from a monolithic rock, was a beehive of activity following huge turnout of devotees from all over the State.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple, made arrangements on an unprecedented scale this year.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, accompanied by his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari, arrived at the temple in the evening, where he was received by Minister for Endowments Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, and TTD Chairman B.R. Naidu and Executive Officer J. Syamala Rao, among others.
The priests welcomed the Chief Minister with the customary ‘poorna kumbham’ and ushered him into the temple. Carrying the ‘silk vastrams’ on his head, the Chief Minister came in a grand procession to the temple and formally handed them over to the priests, who adorned the same to Lord Kodandarama ahead of the kalyanam.
Mr. Naidu and his entourage offered prayers Lord Rama in the sanctum sanctorum after which he was presented a ‘sesha vastram’ on behalf of the temple. Scholars rendered ‘vedasirvachanams’ as a mark of blessings to the Chief Minister.
The celestial wedding started later at the ‘Kalyana Vedika’ located close to the temple, where the deities of Lord Kodandarama and Goddess Sita were brought on stage. The elaborate wedding rituals ended with Lord Rama tying the nuptials.
The arrangements in the form of dazzling serial lighting, installation of LED screens to facilitate easy viewing for the devotees and flying of surveillance drones touched a new high this year.
Special counters were opened this time to distribute the famous ‘Muthyala Thalambralu’ (pearls used for the wedding) to the devotees in a hassle-free manner. In view of the wedding, traffic remained briefly disrupted on the Tirupati-Hyderabad highway.
Published – April 11, 2025 09:10 pm IST
