Priests perform a purification ritual during the Maha Samprokshanam performed at Sri Govindaraja Swamy temple in Tirupati on Thursday.
The ‘Maha Samprokshanam’ ritual, meant to sanctify and throw open Sri Govindaraja Swamy shrine to the public, came to a grand close on Thursday.
The purification was necessitated by the closure of the temple since 14th September 2021 to facilitate gold-plating over the ‘Vimana Gopuram’ (canopy atop the sanctum sanctorum). With the completion of the mammoth task, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) management deemed it fit to consecrate the shrine and the deity, ahead of allowing public for ‘darshan’.
TTD made it a grand affair, with priests designated for the task showering holy water on the Kalasam fixed atop the gold-gilded Vimanam. The event was conducted between 7.45 am and 9.15 am, which included rituals like ‘Kumbharadhana’ and ‘Maha Poornahuthi’. Chief priest Srinivasa Deekshitulu, Agama advisor Sitaramacharyulu and Mohana Rangacharyulu supervised the entire ritual.
TTD trust board member P. Ashok Kumar, accompanied by joint executive officer V. Veerabrahmam and financial advisor and chief accounts officer O. Balaji, witnessed the grand close to the five-day event. Not many devotees were permitted by the security staff to get a closer glimpse of the ritual. The general public, however, were allowed into the temple after 11.30am.