TTD temple consecration held amidst religious fervour

Bhubaneswar: Maha Samprokshanam (consecration) of the newly built TTD Sri Venkateswara temple was held amidst religious fervour in Bhubaneswar on Thursday throwing open the shrine for the public.

The plaque, marking the inauguration of the shrine was unveiled by the pontiff of Visakha Sarada Peetham Sri Swaroopananda Saraswati along with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, AP Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan and TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy.

Earlier, a series of Vedic rituals including Punyahavachanam, Agni Parayanam, Kumbha Aradhana, Nivedana, Homam and Maha Purnahuti were performed. The Brahma Ghosha, Veda Sattumora, Archaka Bahumanam and Dwajarohanam were held as part of the consecration rituals.

In his Anugraha Bhashanam, the pontiff lauded TTD for taking up the protection and promotion of Hindu Sanatana Dharma in a big way across the country through various programmes including construction of temples, Gau Samrakshana, Veda Parirakshana etc.

AP Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan said the newly-constructed Srivari temple at Bhubaneswar is a benign blessing of Lord Venkateswara Himself to the denizens of Odisha. "This has facilitated those devotees who could not make their pilgrimage to Tirumala due to their age, health and other reasons," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy said the TTD has taken up Hindu Dharma Prachara in a big way and has been conducting several Dharmic activities for promotion and strengthening of Santhana Dharma. The TTD, he said had so far constructed 501 temples in AP and another 1,130 temples in AP and other States are underway and added that at the behest of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the TTD was providing darshan to select poor belonging to weaker sections from remote areas during the important occasion like Brahmotsavams at Tirumala temple.

The TTD has also taken up Gau Samrakshana programmes in a big way including "Gudiko Gomata (cow donation)" and so far 171 temples have been covered under the programme and it has introduced "Go Puja" in all the TTD temples. It has also started Govinduniki Go Adharita Naivedyam -preparation of Srivari Prasadams with cow-based organic farming at Tirumala temples, Panchagavya Products, Navaneeta Seva etc.

Dwelling at length on TTD initiatives for Hindu Dharma propagation, Reddy said Parayanams and religious discourses being conducted daily at Tirumala were being telecast live on SV Bhakti Channel for the sake of global devotees and launching Tamil, Kannada and Hindi SVBC channels.

The TTD has so far constructed Sri Venkateswara Divya Kshetrams (temples) in New Delhi, Kurukshetra, Kanyakumari, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, he said adding that the temple inaugurated in the holy city of Bhubaneswar is not only for the devotees from the city but also for people of other places like Cuttack, Barampuram etc in Odisha. The TTD chairman felicitated AP Governor Biswa Bhushan Harichandan and Odisha Chief Miniser Naveen Patnaik and presented them Theertha Prasadams of Lord Venkateswara, Tirumala. Junior pontiff of Visakha Sarada Peetham Sri Swatmanandendra Saraswathi, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sadangi, Local Area Advisory Committee (LAC) chief Dushmant Kumar and TTD senior officials were present.