Religious ecstasy marked the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival at the temple of Lord Venkateswara, here on Saturday (December 23).
Soon after the completion of predawn rituals, the priests ceremoniously opened the Vaikunta Dwaram (the passage circumambulating the innermost sanctum sanctorum of the hill temple), which is opened only once a year on this festival day.
Thiruppavai, which is rendered in the place of Suprabhatam, was performed minutes after 12 a.m. followed by other rituals.
Thousands of devotees who had congregated in front of the main temple complex went into raptures as the priests formally unlocked the huge wooden doors and the air was electrified with their rhythmic chanting of ‘‘Govinda, Govinda’‘ laced with the sonorous blowing of conches by a few others.
VIPs were allowed for darshanam at 1.45 a.m. while ordinary devotees were permitted at 5.15 a.m.
The TTD had a tough time managing VIPs who had descended on the town in a huge number. Supreme Court judges Justice Prashanth Kumar Mishra, Justice Suryakanth, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice S.L. Bhat, former Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, AP High Court judges Justice Kiranmai, Justice T. Rajasekhar, Justice Sujatha, Karnataka Governor Thavarchand Gehlot, Deputy Chief Minister Muthyalanaidu, Ministers Ambati Rambabu, Gudivada Amarnath, Karumuri Venkata Nageswar Rao, Gummanuru Jayaram, P. Viswaroop, A. Suresh, Usha Sricharan, C. Venu Gopala Krishna, Meruga Nagarjuna, R.K. Roja, Seediri Appala Raju, and Chief Whip Prasad Raju, besides several former Ministers, MPs, MLAs, leaders of TDP and BJP, film actors, and producers were among those who had the darshanam.
Tens of thousands of devotees who had assembled along the mada streets were locked in an exalted mode as the golden chariot carrying the processional deities of Lord Malayappa and two divine consorts hurtled by.
TTD Chairman B. Karunakar Reddy said that extensive arrangements have been made to enable the devout have a comfortable darshan.
TTD Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy said the common devotees were allowed as early as 5.15 a.m. into the temple and later allowed in accordance with their time slots. Nourishments and beverages were provided to all those waiting in the darshan lines. The issuance of offline darshan tokens for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara darshanan at Tirupati counters is being carried out smoothly.
