‘Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam’ performed at Tiruchanur

A priest splashing water using a sprinkler gun to cleanse the ‘Dhwaja Sthambam’ at the Tiruchanur Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tirupati on Tuesday.

A priest splashing water using a sprinkler gun to cleanse the ‘Dhwaja Sthambam’ at the Tiruchanur Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tirupati on Tuesday.  

‘Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam’, the purificatory ritual was performed in a grand manner at Sri Padmavathi Ammvari temple in Tiruchanur here on Tuesday, ahead of the annual Vasanthothsavam (Spring festival) slated for this weekend.

It is an age-old practice to cleanse the temple precincts, especially the sanctum sanctorum, ahead of holy occasions, with aromatic products. Priests and temple staff led by Deputy Executive Officer (Special Grade) Muniratnam Reddy cleaned the premises by splashing water on the walls, roof slab, puja vessels and other articles and smeared them with a rich aromatic paste made of Srichurnam, Namakommu, Kasturi, turmeric, camphor, sandal powder, Kichligadda and perfumed water.

The spring festival will begin with the initiatory ritual ‘Ankurarpanam’ on April 27, while procession of golden chariot (Swarna Ratham) will be held on April 29. ‘Snapana Tirumanjanam’, a celestial bath will be given to the processional deity on all the three days in the afternoon and the deity would be taken out in a grand procession in the evenings.

Meanwhile, the TTD management has suspended all ‘Arjitha’ (paid) sevas like Kalyanotsavam, Unjal Seva etc. for the three days.