Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam performed at Tirumala temple

Tirumala: Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam was performed on Tuesday at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara amidst religious fervour in connection with the Ugadi Asthanam as a prelude scheduled for April 11. Koil Thirumanjanam is performed to purify the sanctum sanctorum and temple premises during which all the murtis and other articles are removed and the mula murti is covered with water-proof covering. The entire garbha griham, including floors, ceilings and walls are then cleaned and brushed well with plenty of water. The whole place is then smeared with kunkum, camphor, sandal paste, saffron and turmeric as disinfectant. The covering of the main deity is then removed and the deities, deepam and other articles are replaced inside. Purification pujas and Naivedyams are then offered to the deity. This ceremony is performed strictly as per the agamas as it is conducted four times in a year i.e before Ugadi, before Anivara Asthanam, before Vaikunta Eakadasi, and before Annual Brahmotsavams. TTD EO LV Subramanyam, JEO KS Sreenivasa Raju, CV&SO GVG Ashok Kumar, Temple Deputy EO Chinnamgari Ramana, Peishkar Rama Rao and employees took part in the mass cleansing temple festival that lasted from 6am to 10am. Later, the sarva dashan assumed for pilgrims after 11 am. While the cleansing process was underway, the statues including the moola virat of Lord Venkateswara, Yoganarasimha Swamy and Varadaraja Swamy have been completely covered with white cloth. After the Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam ritual was over, the clothes were removed and Sarva Darshan commenced.A Following this festival, TTD has cancelled Asta Dala Pada Padmaradhana seva in Sri Vari Temple on Tuesday.