Vaishnava temples across Andhra Pradesh spruced up for Vaikunta Ekadasi

TIRUPATI: Vaishnava temples across the state of Andhra Pradesh, especially the shrines of various incarnations of Lord Vishnu, have been spruced up for the annual Vaikunta Ekadasi festival set to be celebrated on a grand note on Monday.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has made elaborate arrangements for the grand conduct of the festival at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala. After the conduct of certain pre-dawn religious formalities, the Vaikunta Dwaram encircling the temple’s sanctum sanctorum will be opened for the devotees for a period of 10 days from Monday morning. TTD also made elaborate barricading arrangements at various local temples in Tirupati and its suburbs anticipating heavy rush.

Along with Simhachalam, many noted temples of the Visakhapatnam district made arrangements for the auspicious “Mukkoti Ekadasi” festival celebrations. Simhachalam temple made arrangements with an expectation of huge turnout of devotees for the Uttara Dwara darshan of Simhachaleswara from 5 am on Monday.

Similarly, Upamaka- Venkateswara Swamy temple, Sagar Nagar ISCON temple, Kanchara Veedhi - Yembar Mannar temple, Ambica Bagh’s Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy devasthanam, Kapparada Vaibhava Venkateswara Swamy temple, Port Venkateswara Swamy temple and several Vaishnavite temples made elaborate arrangements for celebrating this auspicious festival in a grand manner.

On the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi, devotees offer special prayers in Lord Venkateswara temples and Ashta Lakshmi temples in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. As far as Vizianagaram district is concerned, temple administrations of TTD’s Venkateswara Swamy temple near Fort junction, Sri Kalyana Venkateswara temple on Ring Road and Ashta Lakshmi Sametha Ishwarya Venkateswara temple at Ayyannapeta made extensive arrangements for the sake of devotees.

In Srikakulam, Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple at Arasavalli, Sri Kurmam, Sri Venkateswara Temple of PN Colony, Shiva Balaji temple in Banker’s Colony, Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy temple on the banks of Nagavali River wore festive look with the special decoration with flowers.

In Kurnool, Vaikunta Ekadasi will be celebrated with grandeur at Bhramarambha Mallikarjuna Swamy temple by observing Brungi Vahana Seva Uthsavam. Ahobilam Sri Narasimha Swamy temple, Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kurnool city, Laxmi Narsimha temple in Veldurthi and Chennakesava Perumal temples in Koilakuntla and Banaganapalli also spruced up for the Ekadasi fete.

In Kadapa, the idol of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari Devi will be adorned with a diamond crown at the Proddutur temple. In Prakasam, devotees throng the historic Chennakesava Swamy temple for ‘Uttara Dwara Darshan’. In Nellore district, devotees arrive in large numbers at various temples on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi. Uttara Dwara Darshan was arranged at Sri Talpagiri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Ranganayakula Peta.

In Guntur, special pujas will be performed to Lord Trikoteswara Swamy temple at Kotappakonda, Lord Chikoti Mallaiah at Guttikonda Bilam under Piduguralla, Amaralingeswara Swamy temple in Amaravati. Abhishekam and pujas will be performed with flowers to Lord Siva at Omkara Kshetra in Guntur city.

Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy at in Vaikuntapuram under Amaravati mandal, Sri Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at in Mangalagiri have geared up to observe the Ekadasi festival. In Krishna region, authorities of the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirumalagiri, Srikakula Maha Vishnu temple at Srikakulam village and the Venugopala Swamy Temple at Nemali village have in place elaborate arrangements for the occasion, while other Vaishnava temples have arranged for ‘Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam’ (north gate entry) at the temples. TTD authorities have made special measures in place at the Venkateswara Swamy temple at Labbipet, expecting over 20,000 devotees for darshan. At Sri Panchamukha Veeranjaneya Swamy temple at Tadepalli, Vishnu Sahasranama parayanam will be recited on the occasion.

Vaishnava temples in Godavari region have geared up for Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations. The main temples in the region Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Dwaraka Tirumala, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Antarvedi and Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy temple in Annavaram have made elaborate arrangements for the surging devotees. They are taking steps to provide darshan for devotees' from 4 am onwards.