MOHINI VAHANAM- LORD BEJEWELED AS MOHIN AND BALAKRISHNA DAZZLES DEVOTEES

Tirumala, 18 October 2015; It is the day of reckoning for TTD,a day which attracts a huge surge of devotees in lakhs for the epochal event of Garuda seva in the evening. But in the morning hours Lord Venkateswara takes the Mohini avatar atop a Ivory palanquin with a golden parrot ( Nachiar Thirukkolam) in his hand and rides along the four mada streets. The dazzling jewelry and aromatic flowers decked on the vahanam is just a blast from mythology and devotees go agog at the sight of the deity.

On a bright sunny morning of the fifth day of the ongoing Navaratri Brahmotsavams, Lord Venkateswara dressed up as ‘Mohini Avatar’ was taken in a huge procession, along with Sri Krishna in an ivory palanquin. The Lord enthralled his devotees by appearing in the form of celestial beauty ‘Mohini’ (female costumes) – an adorable form of beautiful enchantress.

Legends say that it was Lords message that His devotees should not fall prey to worldly desires and come out of ‘Maya’ by appearing as Mohini. Besides he is also cautioning that the entire universe was a creation of his ‘Maya’ and to overcome the same, everyone should worship Him.

Mythological lores describe the appearance as bejeweled and charming Mohini which throws the demons (asuras) in confusion and wins the celestial battle in favor of the gods The objective of the Mohini avatar is to indicate that the entire universe is spellbound under the ‘Mystic Mohini’ and that the Lord of Tirumala is the king pin and key architect of this high drama in the universe.

At the same time, Lord Venkateswara appeared as Sri Krishna before His countless devotees on a ‘pallaki’ (palanquin) made of ivory and rosewood, presented to the temple by the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore. It was a pleasant surprise to see the presiding deity decked up as ‘Mohini’ and riding a bright white palanquin made of silver and ivory.

The devotees are thrilled by the twin presence of Mohini and Lord Srikrishna, as both are alankara priyas and also highly adulated by people. The superb decoration of the idol baffles even young damsels wondering at richness of the jewels and also the beauty of the utsava idol of Mohini.

The TTD had made all arrangements of drinking water, snacks and butter milk at four mada streets to provide the devotees a comfortable opportunity to witness the celestial parade. A bonanza of cultural activities like dances, folk arts and drummers on the four mada streets presented a Vaikuntam( heavenly) appearnace and spiritual experience to devotees.

TTD Trust Board chairman Ch Krishnamurthy, executive officer Sri D Sambasiva Rao, JEO KS Sreenivasa Raju, CV&SO Sri Nagendra Kumar, and board members Dr P Hariprasad, Sri DP Anantha, Smt Suchitra Ella, deputy EO C Ramana were seen at the front of Vahanas on the Mada streets.