Andhra Pradesh

Brahmotsavams fetch record revenue

TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has netted a record income of Rs. 11 crore during Navarathri Brahmotsavams at Tirumala which concluded on Saturday.

Even though there were two Brahmotsavams this year, the profit earned during the just concluded Navarathri fete is a record.

The income includes not only the offerings dropped in the temple ‘hundi’, but also the income derived from the sale of darshan tickets, laddus and the rent of cottages and guesthouses.

Statistics revealed that over six lakh devotees had the darshan of the presiding deity while over 2.80 lakh devotees had got their heads tonsured during the nine-day festival.

TTD Chairman B. Karunakar Reddy thanked the entire staff for their commitment in making the event a grand success.

He especially complimented engineering personnel and the garden department staff for their efforts in illuminating and decorating the entire temple town with flowers and electric bulbs.

The temple management also extended the customary honours to all the priests and Vedic pundits who had come from different parts of the country to participate in the annual event and also presented them the lord’s ‘prasadam’.

Meanwhile, the presiding deity of Lord Malayappa Swamy, attired in traditional robes of a ‘king hunter’, was taken to the Parveti mandapam on Sunday afternoon situated some 2 km from Tirumala forests as part of the customary Parveti Utsavam ( forest safari) which is observed every year.

The temple priests symbolically organised the hunting of the deer.

While the chief priest of the temple ran ahead with a silver spear in his hand, vahanam carriers ran behind the priest carrying the deity on a golden ‘tiruchi’ thus symbolically hunting the deer tied to the nearby bushes.

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