ANNAKUTOTSAVAM AMAZES DELHITES

New Delhi, 5 November 2015: On the sixth day of the ongoing nine-day Sri Venkateswara Vaibhavotsavams at New Delhi, the local devotees flooded to the spacious venue of Jawaharlal Nehru stadium and were amazed to see Tiruppavada Seva otherwise known as Annakutotsavam on Thrusday.

In Tirumala temple, on every Thursday this special arjitha seva is performed as weekly seva, after the morning pooja. The denizens of Delhi had a rare opportunity to go through this visual festival treat on Thursday as the archakas replicated the seva here.

The day began with the statue of Mula Virat being divested of all ornaments, flowers etc. The deity was later draped only in Dhoti and Uttareeyam. The Thirunaman Kaappu and Kasturi on the forehead of the main deity are also reduced in size resulting in the unique posture of Lord where one can witness the peculiar Netra Darshan (where the divine eyes of the Lord can be seen) of the main deity which was uncommon during other days.

The uniqueness of this seva is that the wide Namam with which the Lord’s forehead is adorned, everyday covers almost half of his eyes. But on Thursday the morning the full view of the benign eyes of the main deity muses devotees which is the significant feature of this seva.

ANNAKUTOTSAVAM OFFER VISUAL TREAT:

A large rectangular tub – like vessel was placed in the Mantapam and a huge quantity of “Pulihora”-tamarind rice, and other delicacies are deposited thereon with coconuts, flowers, sandal paste, kumkum, deepam and Naivedya was offered to the Lord.

Amid Chanting of Mantras, the previous wide Naamam was peeled off and replaced by a thin Naamam. When this happens, it is believed that the Lord’s first gaze after “opening” His Eyes (because they were covered by the Naamam earlier) should not fall on mortals, because it has huge power that could not be withstand by humans. Instead, it was made to fall on the mound of “Pulihora” directly in front of Him, thereby sanctifying it and reducing the intensity of His Gaze. The “Pulihora” therefore acts like a Veil (“Paavada” in Telugu/Tamil) protecting devotees from His Powerful Gaze and hence the name “Tiruppavada Seva”.

The devotees in Delhi enjoyed every glimpse of the ritual on Thursday. TTD Trust Board Chief Dr Ch Krishnamurthy was also present. Meanwhile, yet another important weekly seva, Abhishekam will be performed to the mula virat on Friday.