‘Garuda Prasadam’ at Chilkur Balaji throws traffic haywire on Moinabad Road

Hyderabad: The news of the distribution of Garuda Prasadam for childless women by the Chilkur Balaji Temple resulted in a huge traffic jam on Moinabad Road on Friday, as thousands of families queued up to receive the prasadam.

Every year, after the completion of Brahmotsavam, the priests at the Chilkur Balaji Temple offer 'Garuda Prasadam.' This year, the temple priests announced the distribution on Friday. The message spread widely on various social media platforms, prompting people to line up at the temple near Moinabad. The traffic congestion was so severe that thousands of vehicles were on the roads from Moinabad to Kali Mandir. The police had to intervene and send back many families, stating that the distribution of prasadam had been stopped.

At the Chilkur temple, on the first day of Brahmotsavam, a special practice takes place where a flag with a picture of Garuda (the vehicle of Vishnu) is hoisted over the temple.

This flag serves as a symbolic invitation to all the deities to attend the festival. During the anointing of the Garuda flag, Naivedyam is performed after Nava Kalasha Snapana or Abhishekam followed by Alankaram to Garuda in a grand ceremony. Childless women are given Garuda Prasadam on this day, as it is strongly believed to bestow blessings on them to conceive children.

The head priest of Chilkur temple, CS Rangarajan, stated that during Chaitra Masa Shukla Paksha Ekadashi, the distribution of Garuda Prasadam was offered to numerous devotees. He said that the turnout of devotees far exceeded the temple's expectations, with the number being thousands of times more than anticipated. He further stated that unlike previous years, the distribution of prasadam had to be stopped on Friday due to the huge crowd.