Tirumala: The unique festival, Pranaya Kalahotsavam was celebrated in a grand manner at Tirumala on Sunday evening.

It is a traditional practice to conduct the Pranaya Kalahotsavam in Tirumala every year on the sixth day of Vaikuntha Ekadasi and the 17th day of the Adhyayanotsavam.

As part of the festivities, at around 4 PM, Sri Malayappa Swamy mounted the palanquin proceeded along the Maha Pradakshina path to the Swami Pushkarini. Meanwhile, His two consorts arrived on separate palanquins, moving in the opposite direction, and stood facing Sri Malayappa Swamy.

During the recitation of the Puranas, the Jeeyangars, on behalf of the goddesses, gently showered flower garlands on Sri Malayappa Swamy three times.

Sri Malayappa Swamy enacted a gesture of fear and pleaded innocence before the consorts.

Subsequently, the Consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi were pacified and joined their beloved on His either side and proceeded back to the temple. This was followed by the Asthanam ceremony. A special feature of this festival is the recitation of pasurams from the Divya Prabandham composed by Sri Nammalwar, rendered by the archakas in the Nindastuti style.

The event was attended by HH Tirumala Sri Pedda Jeeyar Swamy, HH Tirumala Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, TTD Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, Deputy EO Lokanatham, other officials, and devotees.

Later, addressing the media, TTD Additional EO said that the Pranaya Kalahotsavam was conducted strictly as per scriptures.

He also informed that the Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan on the sixth day has been progressing smoothly.

He highlighted that on the fifth day (Saturday), a record number of nearly 89,000 devotees were provided darshan. He added that, with the support of AI technology, common devotees who entered the queue lines for Sarva Darshan were able to have darshan within 12 hours.

He further stated that all departments are working in close coordination, continuously monitoring queue management on the ground to significantly reduce waiting time for devotees.

He assured that till January 8, all officials are making concerted efforts to continue providing hassle free darshan to the devotees.