Devotees make beeline at Kapileswara temple in Tirupati

Tirupati: Devotees made a beeline to offer prayers to Lord Siva at several temples in the district on the occasion of Maha Sivaratri on Saturday. The celebrations were held on a grand scale at TTD's Sri Kapileswara Swamy temple in the pilgrim city. Special queue lines and tents were erected for the convenience of the devotees. As soon as the Sarva Darshan began at 5.30 am, devotees in large numbers had a darshan of Sri Kapileswara Swamy and Sri Kamakshi Amma. On the occasion, 'Bhogi Teru' procession was held in a festive atmosphere from 8 am to 10 am amid Kolatams by the members of Bhajan mandals and other attractions. Later, priests performed Sapna Tirumanjanam to Soma Skanda Murthy and his consort with milk, curd, honey, fruit juices and sandalwood paste.

Swamy vari kalyanotsavam will be held on Sunday from 6 pm to 7 pm. Devotees can buy a Rs 250 ticket for couples and take part in the seva. They will be given laddu prasadam. Temple deputy EO Devendra Babu, AEO Parthasarathy and others took part.

Minister for Environment and Forests Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy visited several temples during the day and offered prayers. He performed special pujas at Talakona Siddeswara swamy temple along with Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bahaskar Reddy. Later, he visited some other Sivalayams in Punganur constituency.

Peddireddi said that he prayed to Lord Siva to make the state flourish and take it on a development path.

On this occasion, the sare from Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Swamy was presented to Suruttupplle Pallikondeswara Swamy. A team of TTD officials led by Parupattedar Uma Maheswara Reddy offered pattu vastrams to this unique temple where lord Siva will be seen in a lying posture. Swarnalatha Reddy, spouse of TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy, who accompanied the sare, received by the local legislator Koneti Adimoolam, temple Chairman Balaji Reddy, EO Ramachandra Reddy and others.

District Collector K Venkataramana Reddy also offered prayers to Pallikondeswara Swamy during the day. Special prayers were also performed at other famous temples like Mukkoti Agastheeswara Swamy temple, Kailasa Kona and Sadasiva Kona.

At Omkara Jyothirlingeswara Swamy temple in Vedalla Cheruvu village, special abhishekams were performed to the Lord Siva. Palabhishekam was held for 30-ft Maha Siva Linga.

BJP district cultural wing convenor Gundala Gopinath Reddy, temple trustee Krishnaiah Swamy, Chandrasekhar Swamy, S Raghunatha Reddy and others took part in the prayers.