Amaravathi (Andhra Pradesh), Mar 16 (UNI)All routes from Vijayawada, Krishna, and Guntur led to the massive venue of Kalyana Vedika in Venkatapalem located adjacent to Sri Venkateswara Temple of TTD here on Saturday evening as a sea of humanity turned out to witness the celestial wedding of Sri Srinivasa Kalyanam.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu, Ministers of the State, dignitaries from various departments graced the divine wedding ceremony.

Usually, Kalyanotsavam is performed as an Arjitha Seva (paid seva) in the hill shrine of Tirumala every day, which is restricted to a limited number of pilgrims.

To enable more devotees to witness the celestial wedding ceremony, TTD in the year 2012, set up Sri Srinivasa Kalyanotsavam Project exclusively to organise Srinivasa Kalyanams, which came as a boon for the pilgrims who could not make it to Tirumala or witness the celestial marriage of the deities.

In the last 13 years, 964 Srinivasa Kalayanams were performed, out of which 903 were performed at various places in different states within India, while the remaining 61 were in different countries across the globe.

This religious event took place between 6 PM and 8 PM amidst Vedic chanting and rendering of Annamacharya Sankeertans in a big way on the pleasant evening of Saturday.

In any Hindu Marriage, Kanyadanam occupies a prominent place. Here the Gotra Pravaras of Lord and His Consorts were recited by the Archakas. Bharadwaja Gotram – Venakteswara Swamy; Bhargavasa Gotram – Sri Devi and Kasyapasa Gotram – Bhu Devi.

The Divine Wedding Ceremony comes to a grand end with Mangalya Dharana where Sri Srinivasa tied the Holy Mangala Sutrams (sacred turmeric threads) to His beloved Consorts.

This is a prominent and most entertaining phase usually performed during South Indian Hindu Weddings.

The Lord and His Consorts played with floral balls and coconuts facing each other. (Here the priests and Tallapaka descendents perform this ritual on behalf of the deities).

After this the garlands of deities were also exchanged ceremoniously.

After the conclusion of the pleasant “Love Game”, the Consorts are seated on either side of the Lord, with Sridevi taking the Right side and Bhudevi occupying the left place of Maha Simhasanam.

Karpoora Harati, Nakshatra Harati, and Maha Harti were rendered marking the grand conclusion of the Celestial Wedding Ceremony of Sri Malayappa Swamy with His two Consorts-Sri Devi and Bhu Devi.

The Annamacharya Sankeertans enthralled the devotees on the occasion.

The premises of Kalyana Vedika reverberated with Vedic chants, Govinda Namas as the tens of thousands of devotees thronged to witness the grandeur of celestial wedding immersed in devotional vibes.

TTD Trust Board Chairman B R Naidu, EO J Syamala Rao, Trust Board members, Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, JEO Veerabrahmam, CVSO Incharge Harshavardhan Raju and other officers were present on behalf of TTD.

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