Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam held for Ugadi at Tirumala

Tirumala: The Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam in connection with Telugu Ugadi was performed at Tirumala on Tuesday.

The Tirumanjanam was performed as a prelude to the Ugadi festival that occurs on April 2. All the utsava idols were temporarily removed from the sanctum sanctorum and the Mula Virat was provided with a waterproof covering before the priests carried out the cleansing rituals.

This ceremony is held four times in a year in Tirumala temple, including Anivar Asthanam, annul Brahmotsavam and Vaikunta Ekadasi as preparatory cleaning exercise ahead of the major religious celebrations in the famed shrine.

An aromatic herbal mixture of refined camphor, sandalwood powder, vermilion, turmeric and other ingredients that act as disinfectant was applied to all the walls and pillars inside the sanctum sanctorum as well as at other sub-temples inside the temple complex.

Employees took part in the cleaning ritual that lasted for about four hours. After the cleaning, series of rituals were held before commencing darshan at 12-noon. Prominent among those who took part in the ritual included additional executive officer A V Dharma Reddy, deputy EO (Tirumala temple) Ramesh Babu, VGO Bali Reddy, temple Peishkar Srihari.