Procession of deities marks Rathasaptami in Ongole

Ongole : The people of Ongole celebrated the Rathasaptami on Friday by organising and participating in the processions of deities Sri Chennakesava Swamy and Sri Venkateswara Swamy on SuryaprabhaVahanam.

The Chennakesava Swamy temple celebrated the Rathasaptami by performing various Vahana Seva to the presiding deity. The temple EO and committee members also participated in the processions Suryaprabha Vahanam, Hanumantha Vahanam, Garuda Vahanam, Chandraprabha Vahanam etc, from the early morning to late evening.

The Minister of Energy, Environment, Forest, Science and Technology Balineni Srinivasa Reddy along with his wife participated in the Garuda Vahana Seva in the evening.

The Venkateswara Balabhaktha Samajam in the Dakshinam Bazaar, which was established in1953, is conducting the Rathasaptami procession since then. The members of the Samajam organised the processions touring the town with presiding deity Sri Venkateswara Swamy starting in the early morning.

They took out the procession on SuryaprabhaVahanam from 5 am, decoration of the deity at 8.30 am, Sarvabhupala Vahanam at 11am, SeshaVahanam at 2 pm, HanumanthaVahanam at 4pm, Garuda Vahanam at 6pm and Chandraprabha Vahanam at 8.30 pm in the evening, by performing puja and distributing prasadam to the devotees.

The president of the Samajam, Chunduru Venkata Vasudeva Murthy, secretary Jonnalagadda Suryaprakasa Rao, treasurer Vemuri Srinivasulu and others also participated in the Rathasaptami celebrations.

Other temples in the town also organised special pujas and festivities along with cultural programmes celebrating the Rathasaptami.