Tirupati: Pilgrim city celebrates 'Ganga Jatara' with devotion

Tirupati: All roads led to Gangamma Devasthanam in Tirupati on Tuesday as the city has celebrated the mega folk festival 'Ganga Jatara' in a big way.

Thousands of devotees thronged the temple right from the early hours to worship the Goddess on the auspicious occasion. It was the fond belief of the denizens that worshiping the Goddess and offering 'Pongallu' on the occasion of Jatara will do good for them. The presiding deity blessed the devotees in special 'Alankaram.'

The seven-day Ganga Jatara began on May 10 with 'Chatimpu' followed by various 'Veshams' on each day subsequently. On the seventh day, which falls on Tuesday, Jatara is celebrated on a grand note. On this occasion, not only the main temple called 'Sri Tataiahgunta Gangamma Devasthanam', but all other Gangamma temples in the city witness a flow of devotees. Some of the devotees don the attire of 'Perantallu' while reaching the temple. 'Ragi Ambali' has been distributed to the devotees at several parts of the city which is normal practice every year. Entire temple surrounding areas have witnessed heavy traffic and police had a tough time in controlling the people. Throughout the day queue lines were jam packed as a stream of devotees continuously reached the temple.

The rush has been increasing further from the evening which will continue till late in the night. Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy was present at the temple all throughout the day and monitored the arrangements from time to time. He participated in the prayers in the early hours itself.

As part of the customs, a clay idol of Gangamma called 'Viswaroopam' will be installed in front of the temple after midnight on Tuesday. A guy from the Kaikala dynasty will dress up like 'Perantallu' and will remove the cheek of the Viswaroopam called 'Chempa tholagimpu'. After this, the remaining clay will be distributed to the devotees as there is a belief that it will have curing powers. Devotees in large numbers will attend this programme with which the seven-day Jatara comes to an end.

During the day, Endowments Commissioner Hari Jawaharlal offered prayers to the presiding folk deity and presented Sare. Mayor Dr R Sirisha, Deputy Mayors B Abhinay Reddy, Mudra Narayana, temple trust board chairman Katta Gopi Yadav, EO Muni Krishnaiah and others were present at the temple.