Religious fervour marks Kumbabhishekam at Padmavathi temple in Chennai

Chennai: Kumbhabhishekam, the special ceremony of consecration of the newly constructed Sri Padmavathi Thayaru Temple on GN Chetty Road in the city held amidst religious fervour on Friday. As part of the Kumbhabhishekam, the priests observed a series of ceremonies including Viswaksenaradhana, Chathushtarchana, Baliharana, Goshti, Brahmagosha, Veda Sathumora, Prayaschithahomama, Santhi Homam

and Poornahuthi from early morning 4 to 12 noon. After the ceremonies, Kumbha Udvasana, Kumbha Prokshna, Vimana, Rajagopura Prokshna, Pranaprathishta and Harathi were performed marking the conclusion of Kumbabishekam after which darshan for the public commenced. The devotees from the city and also from other towns turned up in large numbers to witness the temple inauguration ceremony and to have darshan of the Goddess.

Visakha Sarada Peetam Seer Sri Swaraoopanandendra Swamy, who participated in the consecration ceremony, said the presiding deity of Tiruchanur Sri Padmavathi Ammavaru has now appeared in the form of Padmavathi Thayaru in Chennai blessing the citizens. In his Anugraha Bhashanam, the Pontiff said though the world renowned Hindu religious shrines of Sri Padmavathi Venkateswara were at Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, the deities have more devotees in Tamil Nadu. "With the benign blessings of the deities may prosperity blossom in the lives of people of Tamil Nadu,'' he averred.

TTD Chairman Y V Subba Reddy, in his address, said after Tiruchanur temple, an exclusive temple for Goddess Sri Padmavathi Devi has now become a reality only in Chennai in the entire country. He lauded the largesse of veteran actress Kanchana and her family members, who donated the land for the construction of Sri Padmavathi Thayaru temple and the contribution of Chennai Local Advisory Committee (LAC) Chief Sekhar Reddy.

Later Sekhar Reddy also said he was fortunate enough to be a part of this divine contribution. It may be noted here that yesteryear South Indian actress Kanchana and her sister Girija Pandey donated 6 grounds (34 cents) of land on GN Chetty Road in T Nagar of Chennai, which was worth about Rs 40 crore now while TTD sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the construction of the shrine. LAC Chairman pooled up about Rs 5 crore from donors and devotees for the completion of the temple construction which was taken up in February 2021.

TTD Board member Dr Shankar, Delhi LAC Chief Prasanthi, JEO Veerabrahmam, Agama Advisor Srinivasacharyulu, CEO SVBC Shanmukh Kumar, Chief Engineer Nageswara Rao and other officials of TTD were present.