Over 10 lakh devotees throng Srisailam temple

- The Kalyanotsavam of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy goddess and Bhramaramba Devi was performed with spiritual fervour
- Devotees from Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka arrived in large numbers

Kurnool: The ‘Kalyanotsavam’ of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy and goddess Bhramaramba Devi was performed in a grand manner on the midnight of Friday amidst thousands of pilgrims. Devotees believe that all gods and goddesses get Mallanna married to Bhramaramba.

The priests and the pundits had performed special pujas and decorated the idols of Mallanna and Bhramaramba Devi for the special occasion. Pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka, estimated to be around ten lakh, thronged the temple on Friday. On this occasion, homam and japams were performed by the temple priests.

The ‘edurkolu’ (invitation to the marriage party of the groom to the wedding venue by the bride) was performed on the late evening of Friday.

Later, the Mallanna couple was taken out in a procession on ‘Nandi vahanam’. And also ‘Lingodbhava Kala Mahanyasa Poorvaka Rudrabhishekam’ and ‘Pagalankarana’ have been performed. Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, several political leaders and other key officials of the State government visited the Srisailam and had the darshan of the presiding deities. They all offered special prayers to presiding deities.

The temple officials led by its EO N Bharat Gupta made special arrangements at the historical shrine of Srisailam. Police, volunteers and members of temple committee had a tough time managing the pilgrims in the long queues at main temple.

Devotees have to wait for more than seven hours to have the ‘darshan’ of Swami Ammavarlu at the temple. The pilgrims took a holy dip in ‘Patalaganga’ with a belief that it would absolve them of their sins. All Siva temples in the district have reverberated with ‘Om Namah Shivaya, Harara Sembho Sankara’ on the occasion of Maha Sivarathri. Lakhs of pilgrims thronged Mahanadeeswara temple at Mahanandi, Nagareswara Swamy temple in Kurnool, Bugga Rameswara Swamy temple in Kalvabugga, Jagganatha temple at B Tandrapadu, Eswara temple in Yaganti in the district. And also Suyranandi, Omkaram, Rudrakoduru, Kolanu Bharathi etc were packed with devotees.

Despite elaborate arrangements by the authorities concerned, the pilgrims faced some problems like waiting for a long time in queues at various temples. Special rituals were performed in all Siva temples since early morning and the devotees also observed ‘Jagaranam’ at various temples across the district.