Srikalahasti temple sees all-time record of Rahu-Ketu pujas

Tirupati: An all-time record Rahu Ketu pujas were reported at the renowned Srikalahasti devasthanam on Sunday. The temple is famous for these pujas and on the auspicious occasion of Audi Amavasya, a record 9,168 devotees have performed Rahu Ketu pujas as against the previous highest of 7,597 pujas which was reported on June 18,2023.

It was the belief of devotees to perform Rahu Ketu pujas at Srikalahasti Devasthanam more than any other temple. It attained this importance as the Lord Siva and Goddess Gnana Prasunambika were considered as Rahu Ketu according to the mythology.

A five-headed serpent called Ketu adorns the head of Lord Siva whereas a single headed serpent called Rahu in the form of an ornament finds place as the waist belt (Vaddanam) of Ammavaru and as such it is known as Rahu Ketu kshethram. There was a belief that seeing and praying the presiding deities here itself will throw away the doshas.

Though these pujas are held from morning to evening, devotees throng the temple in large numbers during Rahu Kalam period as they consider it more auspicious to perform the puja at that time.

As Audi Amavasya is considered even more significant and it falls on Sunday also, the temple witnessed heavy rush witnessing a footfall of around 33000 during the day.

The temple authorities have said that 5183 devotees have purchased Rs.500 tickets to perform Rahu Ketu pujas, followed by Rs.750 tickets by 2288, Rs.1500 tickets by 933, Rs 2,500 tickets by 610 and Rs 5,000 tickets by 154 devotees.

Further, 8,162 devotees purchased tickets to get Seeghra darshan and special entrance. While the Seeghra darshan tickets were purchased by 5,081 devotees, 3081 special entrance tickets also have been sold. Also, 29,505 packets of prasadams including pulihora, big laddu, small laddu, vada and jilebi were sold.

With all these, devasthanam earned a revenue of more than Rs.1 cr in one day. Officials were having a tough time in controlling the rush.

Following the suggestions of Srikalahasti MLA Bojjala Sudheer Reddy, temple deputy EO N R Krishna Reddy, AEO Lokesh Babu and others monitored the queue lines and provided a hassle free darshan to the devotees.