Nellore: Ranganatha Swamy temple spruced up for Vaikunta Ekadasi

Nellore : The Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple located on the banks of River Pennar at Ranganayakulapeta in the city is spruced up for Vaikunta Ekadasi which will be celebrated on Saturday.

Devotees from surrounding areas are expected to throng the temple to have darshan of Lord Ranganatha Swamy and Goddess Lakshmi through Uttara Dwara Darshan right from the early hours on Saturday.

As large number of devotees are expected to visit the temple, the Endowments Department has made elaborate arrangements. Adequate police personnel are being deployed to avoid any untoward incidents.

Nellore city MLA P Anil Kumar Yadav conducted a review meeting with the officials and asked them to ensure hassle-free Vaikunta Dwara Darshan for the devotees. He said that VIP darshan passes were cancelled for the benefit of the common devotees.

The Talpagiri Ranganatha Swamy temple is situated on the southern banks of Pennar river called Uttara Srirangam.

Tourists from different parts of the two Telugu States and also Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in big numbers visit this temple every day. According to the historians, this ancient temple was built by Rajaraja Narendra in the 12th century.

Similiar to Srirangam of Tamil Nadu State, the presiding deity Ranganatha Swamy is in reclining posture. The deity also faces west unlike any other temples.

In olden days, people of western parts of Nellore district used to visit this temple by crossing Pennar River which flows on the western side of the temple. There is also a famous saying, “Penna Datithe Perumalla Seva.”