Ahead of Vaikunta Ekadasi, Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam, a cleansing ritual, was conducted at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirupati.
Devotional fervour marked the performance of "Koil Alwar Thirumanjanam" at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara, in Tirumala, on Tuesday.
The Thirumanjanam is held as a prelude to the auspicious "Vaikunta Ekadasi" festival to be held on January 5. As part of the festival, a rich herbal mixture containing high quality sandalwood powder, refined camphor, turmeric and other ingredients were applied to all the walls and pillars inside the sanctum sanctorum of the hill temple, along with those in the other sub-temples inside the main temple complex.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam's chairman K Bapiraju, Temple Executive Officer L V Subrahmanyam, and other officials, also participated in the Thirumanjanam.
In view of the festival, the TTD has suspended the Sarva Darshan of Lord Venkateswara from 6am to 12 noon, and all arjita sevas, including Asthadalapadmaradhana, have been cancelled.
The main purpose of performing Koil Thirumanjanam is the purification of the sanctum santorum and the temple premises. During the ceremony, all the idols and other articles are removed from the sanctum sanctorum, and the mula murti is covered with water-proof covering.
The entire garbhagriham, including floors, ceilings and walls are then cleaned and brushed with plenty of water. The whole place is then smeared with kumkum, camphor, sandal paste, saffron and turmeric. Purificatory pujas and Naivedyams are the offered to the deity. This ceremony is strictly performed as per the agama sastras. (INN)