Sea of humanity at Garuda Vahana Seva

TIRUPATI: The hill town of Tirumala was soaked in spiritual ecstasy as lakhs of devotees from different parts of the country converged here to take part in auspicious Garuda Vahana Seva of Lord Venkateswara on the fifth day of the ongoing annual Brahmotsavams on Saturday. Chanting Govinda namam, devotees remained squatted all through the day in the galleries along the four Mada streets to have a glimpse of Lord Malayappa taking a celestial ride on his favourite carrier – ‘Garuda’.

Despite inclement weather that dominated the entire day, devotees continued to pour into Mada streets from the wee hours. Fearing non-availability of space and the unprecedented restrictions on the movement of pilgrims, the majority of the devotees preferred to stay back in the galleries after the procession of ‘Mohini Avataram’ in the morning.

The procession of Garuda Vahanam took off to a ceremonial start amid chanting of ‘Garuda Vahana Govinda Govinda’ by the devotees, who had assembled several hours in advance in front of the hill temple. The procession was advanced by an hour in contrast to the regular timings on normal days to facilitate more devotees to witness the event.

The processional deity was adorned with very rare and precious jewels like a diamond-studded golden crown, centuries-old Makarakanti and Lakshmi Kasula haram, and Venkateswara Sahasranama mala, which normally adorned the presiding deity (Mulavirat) inside the Srivari temple. The palm-sized emerald that adorned the chest of the idol was the cynosure of all eyes.

According to legends, Garuda, or the Eagle is the favourite vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Besides being the daily transport, Garuda also occupied the top slot in the Dhwajam that heralded the commencement of the Brahmotsavams. It is strongly believed that the Darshan of the Universal deity on the Garuda would shower boons and wash out all sins and bring good fortunes, says the legends.

Meanwhile, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy and Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy, who personally monitored the procession of Garuda Vahanam, said that the TTD had ensured pleasant darshan to devotees who have been waiting for hours together in the four Mada streets to catch a glimpse of Vahanam, by halting the celestial vehicle before each gallery.

They said that the temple body, for the first time in its history, made arrangements for refilling galleries in front of the temple and filling up the Harathi points with devotees, which has provided darshan for more than 65,000 devotees additionally, temple officials claimed.

Every inch of the Mada streets was occupied by pilgrims in the early hours and galleries with a holding capacity of around 1.69 lakh acted as open-air auditoriums for the procession. It was observed that more than one lakh pilgrims were stranded outside the galleries, watching the procession on giant LED screens. However, to make pilgrims feel comfortable, TTD made arrangements for a continuous distribution of food, water and beverages, etc to devotees.

TTD security and police wings in unison made security arrangements to ensure that no untoward incident takes place during the mega fete. Medical teams moved around the Mada streets and other places in Tirumala, distributing free medicines, while a paramedical team along with an ambulance was also kept ready at every corner of the Mada streets to meet any kind of emergency.