Epaper
Tirupati (PTI): The nine-day annual Brahmotsavam festival of the Lord Venkateswara temple here in which over a million devotees are expected to take part, will begin on Wednesday.
Marking the commencement of the ‘Navaratri Brahmotsavam’ the high priests, amid chanting of Vedic Hymns, would hoist the traditional Garuda Flag atop the sacred golden ‘Dwajasthambham’ situated in front of the sanctum sanatorium at the hill temple.
Over a million devotees from across the globe would throng the hills to witness the sacred procession in which the temple deity would be taken out around the shrine on different Vahanas (sacred carriers) twice every day during the Navaratri, temple sources said.
Observing the three decade old practice, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, on behalf of the state government would offer a set of new silk clothes to the shrine on the festival’s commencement. Tight security arrangements have been put in place both on Tirumala hills and in Tirupati in the wake of the recent bomb blasts in the country, the sources said.
