Devotees at Sri Venkateswara temple, in Tirupati, in Chennai, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Tirupati: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the official custodian of Sri Venkateswara temple here, observed Ankurarpanam on Wednesday in the run-up to the annual Brahmotsavams from Friday.
Ankurarpanam is an important seed swing festival and is observed on the eve of Brahmotsavams as a prelude. It involves sowing seeds at night for auspiciousness using vessels called 'palikas'.
"The essence of this ritual is to make a sankalpa (wish) to celebrate a festival in a successful manner and get the grace of the Mula Virat (deity)," said TTD in a press release.
Scheduled from October 4 to 12 at the holy shrine in Tirumala, Brahmostavams fest involves several festivities such as Aalaya Suddhi, Dwajarohanam, Vahana Seva, Srivari Koluvu, Snapanam and several others.
Alaya Suddhi is the cleansing of Sri Venkateswara temple before the commencement of Brahmostavams, Dwajarohanam involves the hoisting of flags signaling the start of Brahmostavams and Vahana Seva entails the procession of the deity around the streets of Tirumala.
The traditional temple cleansing ritual, Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam, was performed with utmost religious fervour in Tirumala temple on Tuesday.
TTD executive officer J Shyamala Rao said this unique Tirumanjanam was performed in view of the annual Brahmotsavams.
Usually, it is observed four times in a year on the preceding Tuesday before Telugu Ugadi, Anivara Asthanam, annual Brahmotsavams and Vaikuntha Ekadasi festivals in Tirumala temple.
As a part of it, the entire temple, deities, puja utensils were cleansed while a special aromatic mixture called "Parimalam" was smeared on the walls, roofs and pillars of the temple complex.
On Wednesday, TTD organised the celestial procession of mat and rope as part of Dwajarohanam ceremony while the hoisting of Garuda flag on the temple on the evening of October 4 marks the beginning of the nine-day Brahmotsavams.
"Several programmes are held every year during the Brahmostavams. Cultural troupes come from several states. Last time they came from 12 states and this time we have planned to bring them from 21 states," Rao in a video message on X on Wednesday.
To enable the journey of lakhs of pilgrims to Tirumala, Rao said APSRTC will arrange 400 buses to make around 2,000 trips daily during the nine-day festival. On Garuda Vahana Seva day, there would be 3,000 trips.
The temple body has also decided to arrange helpdesks to guide people during the Brahmostavams, which were raised from five to 12.
Temple staff manning helpdesks will speak in multiple languages to assist devotees from various states.
According to Rao, TTD is giving high importance to annaprasadam (blessed food for devotees) during the Brahmostavams for supplying sufficient and quality food.
He said up to 11.5 lakh portions of annaprasadam will be served while up to 40,000 devotees could be accommodated in Tirumala, calling on devotees to make their own arrangements in Tirupati if they cannot procure accommodation in Tirumala.
Further, Rao, accompanied by temple priests recently visited Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and invited him to the Brahmotsavams, where it is customary for the CM to present silken raiment to the deity on behalf of the state government.
While Endowments Minister Anam Ram Narayan Reddy asked the temple officials to organise the ensuing annual festival in a stupendous manner, providing a memorable feeling to the visiting pilgrims.