Rajanna-Sircilla: Minister Indrakaran Reddy along with family members performed special pooja to Vemulawada Rajarajeswara Swamy. The Minister, who arrived at the temple along with family members on Friday night, inaugurated the Shivarchana cultural program organized to entertain the devotees who come to the temple to participate in the three-day Mahashivratri fair.
First Published Feb 18, 2023, 4:12 PM IST
Vemulawada Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple: On February 18, the temples of the country take on a special splendor to mark the festival of Mahashivratri. Resounding with the remembrance of Shiva’s name. Hindu mythology states that worshiping Shivalinga on this day brings many blessings. This time the day of Mahashivratri is very special because it is a Saturday and the pundits say that Shani Pradosha is also fasted on that day. It is in this context that special pujas are being performed at Vemulawada Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy Temple in Rajan Sirisilla district. The fair started in earnest. The entire area was buzzing with devotees. During the Mahashivaratri fair which started on Saturday morning at Vemulawada Sri Rajarajeswara Swamy Temple, Telangana State Department of Religion Minister Indrakaran Reddy presented silk clothes to Lord Shiva.
On behalf of the state government, Zilla Parishad Chairperson Nyalakonda Aruna, Vemulawada Municipal Chairperson Ramatheerthappu Madhavi, Collector Anurag Jayanthi, SP Akhil Mahajan along with others presented silk robes to the President. Earlier, TTD Deputy Executive Officer Harinath Rajarajeswara presented silk clothes to Swami continuing the time-honored tradition. Earlier, minister Indrakaran Reddy along with family members performed special pooja to Vemulawada Rajarajeswara Swamy. The Minister, who arrived at the temple along with family members on Friday night, inaugurated the Shivarchana cultural program organized to entertain the devotees who come to the temple to participate in the three-day Mahashivratri fair.
A fair for three days
Vemulawada Shree Rajarajeswara Swamy Temple holds special pujas on the occasion of Shivaratri and a three-day annual fair is held here. The Maha Shivratri fair started on Friday. Devotees thronged the shrine in large numbers to participate in the fair. On Saturday morning, on behalf of the state government, Minister of Religion A Indrakaran Reddy, along with other ministers Koppula Eshwar, Gangula Kamalakar and local MLA CH Ramesh Babu visited the temple.
For the convenience of the devotees this time, the district administration has created the ‘Shivaratri Jatara App’. On the other hand, on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, extensive arrangements have been made for the fair at a cost of Rs 3.30 crore, as about three to four lakh devotees are likely to come from various parts of Telangana as well as neighboring states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Collector Anurag Jayanti and Superintendent of Police Akhil Mahajan, who held a meeting with the officials to review the arrangements, divided the temple town into different zones and assigned the zones to officers of different departments.
TSRTC officials are running 850 buses on different routes to transport devotees from different parts of the state. On the other hand, 14 mini buses are also running from Tuppapur (Vemulawada bus stand) to the main shrine to transport the pilgrims free of cost. Along with all the temples the temple town is decorated with attractive lighting.
