KCR Revives Age-Old Tradition Of Offerings To TTD

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today fulfilled his vow to Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala by presenting Him gold ornaments valued at Rs. 5.5 crores.

The Chief Minister, who reached Tirumula along with his family members and cabinet colleagues besides senior officials yesterday, had a darshan of the deity and presented the ornaments to the temple archakas today.

Earlier KCR, his wife and other family members had visited the Sri Varahaswami temple as per tradition and then proceeded for a darshan of Lord Venkateswara at the Tirumala shrine.

The temple authorities accorded a warm welcome to KCR and his family at the Mahadwaram. He then handed over the gold "saligram" necklace weighing 12 kgs and valued at Rs. 3 crores, and also another ornaments weighing 4.65 kgs and valued at Rs. 1.21 crore, to the temple priests.

The KCR couple also presented a nose stud to Goddess Padmavathi.

Interacting with the media later, KCR said that he had taken a vow during the Telangana movement that he would present golden ornaments to Sri Venkateswara Swamy and Sri Padmavathi Ammavaru if a separate Telangana State became a reality.

"Due to Lord Venkateswara Swamy's blessings we got statehood for Telangana. I am happy today that I have presented the ornaments and fulfilled my vow. After the formation of Telangana I wanted to come here and fulfill my vow. But it did not happen. As they say, unless you have a calling from the Lord, you cannot make the visit. In my childhood, I had come to Tirupati once along with my uncle to have the darshan. But we could not as we heard an inauspicious news and had to cancel the visit and return. Unless you have the grace of the Lord, you cannot come here and have a darshan. I have performed the poojas with utmost devotion and to my heart's content. I prayed to the Lord that He take care of Telangana and bless it that it do well. I also prayed from the bottom of my heart that both the Telugu states flourish. Not only the two states, I prayed for the well-being of the entire country. I thank everyone for their cooperation," the CM said in his brief message to people at the Sri Ranganayaka Swamy Mandapam.

He also said that he was confident that with the blessings of Lord Venkateswara, all the pending issues and problems confronting the two states would be resolved amicably at the earliest.

Responding to the offerings made by the Telangana Chief Minister, TTD Executive Officer Sambasiva Rao said that in the olden days such costly presents were offered to deities by emperors and kings like Sri Krishnadevaraya and the Mysore Maharaja. The same tradition had now been revived by KCR, and it would be remembered forever in history, he said. By reviving the age-old tradition, KCR had earned a niche for himself in this regard, he added.

Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker Madhusudhana Chary; ministers T Harish Rao, Etela Rajendra, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Indrakaran Reddy and Padma Rao; MPs K Kavitha and Seetharam Naik; MLAs Vemula Prashanth Reddy and G Kishore; Chief Advisor to the Government Rajiv Sharma; Chief Secretary S P Singh; Endowments Commissioner Shivashankar; and TTD Chairman Chadalavada Krishnamurthy also accompanied the CM during his visit to Tirumala.