Lord Venkateswara’s Kalyanam held on a grand note

Ongole:  The celestial wedding of Lord Venkateswara with his consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi was performed at the police parade grounds here on Saturday on a grand scale amidst the priests chanting the Vedic hymns.  

The event was held under the joint aegis of Magunta family and the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams. The special attraction of the event was showering flowers, brought from Tirumala, from a helicopter on the idols. People from all parts of the district thronged the venue to witness the wedding. 

They vied with each other in grabbing the flowers. District judge G Priyadarsini, MLC Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Ongole MLA Damacharla Janardhan, Kondapi MLA Swamy, MLC Karanam Balaram, his son Karanam Venkatesh, Tollywood comedian Raghu Babu and others attended the event. 

Under the directions of the Armed Reserve Assistant Superintendent of Police K Sivareddy, DSP of Ongole made elaborate bandobust arrangements. Traffic has been diverted in the city on account of heavy crowd thronging the venue. 

Earlier a Sobha Yatra was taken out from MS Function Hall in Nellore Bus Station Junction to the police parade grounds. The yatra proceeded through Trunk Road, old market and Kurnool Road.

As part of the event, TTD singers Rajesh and Aasa Deepika rendered Annamacharya Kirtans. A Harikatha rendered by Jandhyala Krishna Kumari made the audiences spellbound. Annamacharya Kirtans rendered by Sai Padmaja of Hyderabad enthralled the audiences. 

A dance-ballet Padmavati Kalyanam was presented by students of Nalinipriya Nrutyalayam under the tutelage of their guru Siva Kumari. TTD Dharma Parishat district president Alahari Chanchala Rao and Secretary Srinivasa Rao supervised the arrangements.