Chief priest of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy temple Petam Mallikarjuna Swamy and Vedic scholar Ganti Radhakrishna Sarma and pandits gave punya nadi harathi with religious fervour to Krishna river at Pathalaganga in Srisailam on the occasion of Karthika Pournami on Friday night.
They performed puja to Krishnaveni statue at Pathalaganga and offered flowers and new clothes to the holy river. Thousands of devotees had a holy dip in Pathalaganga and watched the ‘Punya nadi harathi.’
Dasavidha harathi including Eka harathi, Netra harathi, Bilwa harathi, Naga harathi, Pancha harathi, Sadyojatha pancha harathi, Kumbha harathi, Nakshatra harathi, Ratha harathi and Karpoora harathi were given to Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy, Sri Bhramaramba Devi and the pushkarini on the occasion.
Large number of women devotees participated in Karthika deeparchana at the pushkarini with 50,000 oil lamps, arranged by about 100 temple staff members. Devotees passed under the jwalathoranam at Gangadhara mantapam.
Flower show
The first-ever colourful Sivathandavam laser show at Srisailam enthralled the large turnout of devotees.
Formation of a Sivalingam, Nandi and a chariot with a variety of flowers brought from Bengaluru was a big draw.
The three-day flower show would continue till November 5, temple executive officer Narayan Bharat Gupta said. Flexi boards were put up to propagate mythological stories pertaining to holy trees Ravi, Bilwa, Medi, Kadambam, Nagalingam and Usiri (gooseberry) and the medicinal properties of various flowers for enlightening the devotees.
Peethadhipathi
visits temple
Peethadhipathi of Srisailam Matham Sri Chenna Siddharama Panditaradhya Sivacharya Mahaswamy performed Rudrabhishekam to Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy on the occasion of Karthika pournami. He had also darshan of Sri Bhramaramba Devi.
The temple authorities organised Veda Goshti and felicitated the Peethadhipathi. He was received with Vedic chants and poornakumbham at the temple entrance.