Hyderabad: Holy ghat to reverberate with Sri Rudram
Over 300 Vedic students and priests to recite Sri Rudram at the ongoing Ganga Pushkaralu on Saturday
Hyderabad/Varanasi : The banks of holy river Ganga in Varanasi will be reverberating with the recitation of Sri Rudram by over 300 Vedic students and priests from various organisations on the occasion of the ongoing Ganga Pushkaralu which began on April 22.
Sri Rudram is a scriptural text that praises Rudra, a form of Lord Shiva, that represents the resplendent fire of the Divine will be recited on Saturday. This fire purifies limitations and restores the awareness of oneness in a yogi. It is a powerful mantra in the Taittiriya Samhita that is in the Krishna Yajur Veda.
After the recitation of Sri Rudram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the Kashi Telugu Sangamam event to be held near Manasarovar Ghat, Varanasi on Saturday. Speaking to Hans India, VV Sunder Shastri, managing trustee of Sri Ram Tarak – Andhra Ashram, said the ashram will be organising Stotra Parayanam, which includes Ganga, Annapurna, Kashi Vishwanath, Kala Bhairava.
The Stotra Parayanam will be telecast live for the benefit of devotees of the two Telugu States.
The holy city is already reverberating with chants of 'Jai Maa Ganga' since the commencement of Pushkaralu as a large number of devotees are taking holy dip and participating in various spiritual discourses, devotional music and dance and other cultural programmes, says T Gajanan Joshi, founder of Sri Raja Rajeshwari Charitable Trust, whose family settled in Kashi for last 400 years.
Over 300 women in traditional attire will be lighting diyas on the banks of River Ganga on Saturday. There will be a screening of film on Sri Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and development of Varanasi in 2014.
A pravachanam will be recited by renowned spiritual teacher Samaveda Shanmukh Sarma, followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the gathering.
An oath on Panch Pran (announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of Red Fort on Independence Day) will be performed. All priests and ashram organisers linked to Telugu States will be felicitated by Sri Kashi Telugu Samiti.
The Uttar Pradesh State Tourism department put arrangements in place for the 12-day fest to make it convenient to the pilgrims. On an average, over one lakh Telugu pilgrims are descending on Varanasi.