His much-hyped five-day Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagam commenced this morning at the Erravalli farmhouse of the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
His much-hyped five-day Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagam commenced this morning at the Erravalli farmhouse of the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao amid the chanting of Vedic hymns and traditional drumbeats at the conventionally decorated yagashala.
Following the schedule, rithviks and Brahmins welcomed with a Purnakumbham the Chief Minister and his wife Shobha, who entered the premises at 8:30 am.
To mark the beginning of the ritual, KCR and Shobha went around the yagashala and attended the rituals of the pujas of the Chandi Yagam, and were joined by Governor E S L Narasimhan and first lady Vimala Narasimhan after 15 minutes. Both the couples paid obeisance to Goddess Chandi.
A team of six seers from Sringeri conducted the yagam, guiding about 2,000 Rithviks who chanted Vedic hymns and mantras at the 108 homa gundams (sacred fire pits) erected for the program. Priests from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and five other States started chanting hymns around the homa gundams after performing the prescribed religious rituals.
The sprawling farmhouse area adorned a traditional look as about 5,000 women participated in the kumkumarchana program.
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Eenadu group chairman Ramoji Rao attended the program on the first day. Ministers T Harish Rao, K T Rama Rao, Jagadish Reddy and Indrakaran Reddy, Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy, MPs Kavitha and Kesava Rao, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, DGP Anurag Sharma, MLAs and MLCs were present.
As many as 4,000 people can watch the ritual at the yagashala. Arrangements have been made for the distribution of food to 50,000 people every day during the yagam. Special buses have been arranged from Gajwel, Wargal and Gauraram to shift people to the yagashala site.
President Pranab Mukherjee, the Governors of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, central and state ministers, MPs, two judges of the Supreme Court and other VVIPs are expected to participate in the event during the next four days.
More then 3,000 policemen, apart from a large number of police top-brass, have been deployed around the venue, and, as mentioned, closed-circuit television cameras installed within a radius of five kilometers. Five helipads and parking arrangements for 20,000 vehicles have also been made near the venue.