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Scorching heat fails to dampen Navami spirit
Braving searing heat and high humidity, devotees soaked in the devotional spirit witnessed the celestial wedding of the Lord Rama with his Consort Sita at the hugely decked-up Mithila Stadium here on Friday.
CELESTIAL WEDDING OF SRI RAMA-sita
Bhadrachalam (Khammam): Braving searing heat and high humidity, devotees soaked in the devotional spirit witnessed the celestial wedding of the Lord Rama with his Consort Sita at the hugely decked-up Mithila Stadium here on Friday.
Albeit the devotee influx appeared a bit sparse compared to the previous year’s attendance, it did not dampen the divinity of the occasion that happens on every Chaitra Sukla Navami, the 9th day the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month, also referred to as Sri Ram Navami. Chaitra Sukla Navami also happens to be the birthday of Lord Rama.
Right from the morning, despite the scorching sun, devotees made a beeline to Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple precincts on the banks of the River Godavari to witness the Lord’s wedding. Indeed, the ambience was electrifying as the devotees chanted Jai Sriram when the priests carried the processional deities mounted atop a tastefully decorated palanquin to the Kalyana Mandapam in the packed Mithila Stadium in a ceremonial procession as per the pancharatragama sastra.
When the chief priest held aloft the centuries-old Chintaku and Patchala patakams, gifted by Bhakta Ramadasu aka Kancharla Gopanna, devotees with folded hands craned forward to get a glimpse of the ornaments as the other priests aptly sung Saint composer Bhakta Ramadasu’s famous keertan ‘Seetammaku cheyisthi chintaku patakamu Ramachandra…’
The ‘divya abharanalankarana' included ‘Rama Mada', one of a gold coin Lord Rama and Lakshmana paid back to Golconda ruler Tanisha to secure the release of Bhakta Ramadasu in lieu of revenues used by the latter. It may be mentioned here that Ramadasu used the revenues of Tanisha to construct the Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple at Bhadrachalam in the 17th century for which he was jailed for about 12 years.
After exhibiting each of the ornaments to the devotees, it was time for the priests to perform the exchange of jeelakarra and bellam on behalf of the Lord Rama and Goddess Sita. At 12 noon, the Abhijit muhurat, priests united Lord Rama and His Consort Sita Devi in wedlock and it was followed by Mutyala Talambralu (pearl mixed with rice, turmeric, saffron and scented ingredients) ritual. Earlier, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao along with his wife presented ‘pattu vatrams' and ‘mutyala talambralu' on behalf of the State government as per the tradition that has been in vogue since the times of Tanisha.
Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari, Minister for Roads and Buildings Tummala Nageswar Rao, Mahbubabad MP A Sitaram Naik, Peddapally MP B Suman, Bhadrachalam MLA Sunnam Rajaiah, Kothagudem MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao, Aswaraopet MLA T Venkateswarlu, Wyra MLA B Madan Lal, legislators Balasani Laxminarayana, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, district Collector D S Lokesh Kumar, Joint Collector D Divya, Superintendent of Police Shaw Nawaz Qasim and ITDA Project Officer Rajiv Gandhi Hanumanthu were among others present.
