Devotional fervour marks Vaikuntha Ekadasi

Vaikuntha Ekadasi was celebrated with devotion and religious fervour in the city on Thursday. Special pujas were performed at Venkateswara Swamy and other Vaishnavite temples in the city to mark the most auspicious occasion in a Hindu calendar, which falls on Shukala Paksha of Pausha month.

Vaikuntha Ekadashi, touted by Vaishnavites as the day on which Vaikuntha Dwaram, the gate to the Lord's inner sanctum is opened on this day. Devotees started visiting Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at Labbipet from the early hours of the day. The temple premises reverberated with the chants of `Govinda Govinda’.

According to Vishnu Purana, fasting on Vaikuntha Ekadasi day is equivalent to fasting on the remaining 23 Ekadasi days of the Hindu year.

“It is one of the most auspicious days of Vaishnavite temples in south India,’’ said G Venkataramana Charyulu, a priest of Dasanjaneya Swamy temple, Machavaram.

Devotees in large numbers also visited Sri Sivarama Kshetram at Satyanarayanapuram, Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at Brahmin Street and Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Mangalagiri to seek the blessings of the Lord on the auspicious day.

Nalanda Vidyaniketan, in collaboration with the Hindu Dharma Prachara Parishad of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), celebrated Vaikuntha Ekadasi at its secondary school campus in Gayatri Nagar. The idols of Lord Venkateswara and His consorts Sri Devi and Bhudevi were set up at the venue as part of Uttara Dwara Darshanam. TTD priests performed special rituals to mark the occasion. Devotees were allowed to have darshan of the Lord from 6 am.