Devotees experience spiritual bliss

 Vemulawada (Rajanna-Sircilla): Spiritual ecstasy pervaded the temple town of Vemulawada, the abode of Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy, with thousands of devotees making a beeline to get a glimpse of Neela Lohita Sivalingam on the occasion of Maha Sivaratri on Tuesday.

The rituals that commenced early in the morning continued day long amid devotees’ chants of ‘Aum Namasivaya’. Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy accompanied by his wife presented silk robes to the Lord on behalf of the State government. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Joint Executive Officer K Srinivasa Raju also presented silk robes to the presiding deities on behalf of Lord Venkateswara Swamy.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is keen to turn Vemulawada, which is also known as Dakshin Kasi, into a spiritual centre by developing Rajanna temple.

Referring to the Rs 400 crore funds allocated for the Vemulawada Temple Development Authority (VTDA), Reddy said that the government is devising a development plan and it’s not far away from implementation. “The plan is certain to reflect culture and tradition of the region,” he said.

Vemulawada MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh Babu said the district administration has ensured all arrangements in place for the comfort of the devotees. This apart, the Department of Culture is organising several cultural programmes for the pilgrims, who on Maha Sivaratri fast and resort to jagaram (waking up all night).

District Collector Krishna Bhaskar said that jatara arrangements are in tune with the comfort of the devotees. He expressed confidence that pilgrims will leave the temple town with overwhelming satisfaction.   Department of Culture Director Mamidi Harikrishna, Superintendent of Police Viswajeet Kampati, Nagar Panchayat Chairperson N Uma and temple executive officer Dusa Rajeshwar were among others present.

As part of rituals, Maha Lingarchana and Mahanyasapurvaka Ekadas Rudrabhishekam were conducted by priests at 6.05 pm and 11.35 pm respectively.