Tirumala: In connection with Surya Jayanti on the auspicious day of Radha Saptami, the seven vahana sevas of Lord Venkateswara and various cultural programmes organised on the occasion of Ratha Saptami enthralled the devotes in Tirumala on Tuesday.

Lord Sri Malayappa Swamy in all His celestial grandeur shined bright on the Suryaprabha Vahanam and blessed devotees all along the four Mada streets on Tuesday morning.

The first and foremost divine carrier, Suryaprabha Vahanam commenced from Vahana Mandapam at 5.30 am and moved swiftly along the four Mada streets. The devotees were mesmerised to witness the elegance and majesty of the Utsava Murthy atop the Sun carrier.

As per the available inscriptional data, Ratha Saptami is being observed as an annual fete since 1564.

Meanwhile, the first rays of Sun touch the holy feet of Sri Malayappa Swamy at around 6.48am.

The devotees who have been waiting to catch this interesting moment chanted Govinda...Govinda all at a time with which the entire Tirumala reverberated with the sacred name.

All the local temples under the TTD also observed the one day religious fete Ratha Saptami. All the temples of Tiruchanur, Srinivasa Mangapuram, Naglapuram, Kodanda Ramalayam, Narayanavanam, Karvvetinagaram, Applayagunta were decked up for Surya Jayanti festival.

Many artistes from AP, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka participated in various cultural programmes and artistes from five art groups performed in each vahana seva.

TTD chairman B R Naidu, EO J Syamala Rao, board members Jyothula Nehru, MS Raju, Bhanuprakash Reddy, N Sadasiva Rao, Naresh, Santaram, Rajasekhar Goud, Panabaka Lakshmi, Vemireddi Prasanthi Reddy, Suchitra Ella, Janaki Devi and Rangasri were present.

Among other officials, the additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, JEO Veerabrahmam, CVSO Manikantha Chandolu, SP Harshavardhan Raju, CE Satyanarayana were also present.