Andhra pradesh: Spiritual fervour marks consecration

Vijayawada: The consecration, 'Maha Samprokshnam' of the newly-built Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple was held amidst spiritual fervour at Venkatapalem of Amaravathi on Thursday.

The Maha Samprokshnam, marking the formal inauguration of the shrine built at a cost of Rs 31 crore, on the lines of famed Tirumala temple was performed by a team of priests led by Tirumala temple chief Venugopala Deekshithulu, Agama Advisor Vedantam Vishnu Bhattacharya at the anointed auspicious Mithuna Lagnam between 7.50 am and 8.10 am.

Sri Swarupanandendra Saraswati Swamy of Visakha Sarada Peetham along with Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan and TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy unveiled the plaque.

A series of rituals like Punyahavachanam, Kumbharadhana, Nivedana, Maha Purnahuti, and Vimana Gopura Kalasa Avahana etc. were preceded Maha Samprokshnam.

Later, Prana Pratistha, Brahma Ghosha, Veda Sattumora conducted followed by Dhwajarohanam between 10.30 am and 11 am formally declaring the opening of the shrine for darshan, bringing an end to the five-day long Maha Samprokshna rituals which began on June 5.

Speaking on the occasion, Visakha pontiff Swarupanandendra Saraswati hailed the construction of Venkateswara temple at Amaravati as per the wish of AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as a divine replica of Tirumala temple.

TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy said TTD has taken up the construction of temples as part of its massive programme to promote and propagate Sanathana Hindu Dharma from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

Recently, he said, Venkateswara temples were inaugurated at Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam adding that the construction of the temple in Jammu which is under construction will be completed in six months.

Subba Reddy said in addition, under the SRIVANI Trust programme 500 Srivari temples have been built in remote areas of tribal, fishermen and weaker sections while plans are afoot for construction of 1,300 temples more in two years in the state.

AP endowments minister Satyanarayana said the TTD temple will be a boon to the devotees who were not able to travel to Tirumala, seeking blessings of Sri Venkateshwara at Amaravati SV temple.

Devotees thronged the shrine for darshan after the consecration ceremonies are over. In the evening, the divine wedding ceremony, Srinivasa Kalyanam, was observed between 3 pm and 4.30 pm followed by evening Kainkaryams and Ekanta Seva, before the closure of the shrine.

Senior officials including special chief secretary to CM Dr KS Jawahar Reddy, principal secretary of finance Samsher Singh Rawat, endowments commissioner Hari Jawaharlal, local MLA Sridevi, Guntur ZP chief Christina and others participated in the inaugural ceremony.