Sirimanotsavam to be celebrated in a grand manner this year

Visakhapatnam: The Vizianagaram district administration has decided to conduct the annual Sirimanotsavam, a major folk festival of the region, in a grand manner on October 11.

The festival is a part of Pydithalli Ammavari Jatara, Vizianagaram. The festival could not be celebrated for the last two years due to the Covid pandemic.

Traditionally, the Sirimanu Jatara is celebrated on the first Tuesday after the Dasara festival every year. The annual fest, also known as Sirimaanu Panduga, draws three to four lakh people from different parts of Andhra Pradesh and from neighboring Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Minister for Education Botsa Satyanarayana held a meeting with the collector A. Surya Kumari and other officials on the arrangements to be made for the festival on Saturday evening.

The collector said that the restrictions related to Covid-19 were not in force, the district administration would allow the devotees to participate in the festival this year. Sirimanotsavam, the main event of the fest, will be held on October 11 and the Tholelu festival will be held on October 10, she added.
Keeping in view of the rush of the devotees, the APSRTC will run special buses for the festival. The district administration is chalking out plans to introduce ticket darshan of the deity during the festival days. The price of the darshan ticket will be between Rs 100 and Rs 300. The online darshan tickets will be available at all mandal headquarters and Sachivalayams in the district.

The devotees will witness the spectacle of the priest sitting on top of the 55-foot pole (sirimanu) in regal robes to be taken around the fort. Hanging from the upper end of the Sirimanu, the priest blesses the devotees and the chariot covers the thoroughfares of Vizianagaram on October 11.