TTD to organise 'Kalyanotsava' in B'lore

Bangalore, Jun 11 (UNI) For the first time, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will organise 'Sri Srinivasa Kalyanotsava' at the sprawling Palace Grounds in the city on June 22.

Disclosing this to newspersons here, TTD Joint Executive Officer Dharma Reddy said the event would be attended by over two lakh devotees.

Replying to queries, he said the celestial wedding of Lord Venkateswara was organised here for those devotees, who could not make it to the seven hills to witness the daily 'Kalyanotsavam' due to various reasons.

As against a mere 1,200 people, who could witness the 'Kalyanotsavam' at Tirumala daily, this event would enable over two lakh devotees to witness the event even from one km away through closed circuit television facility.

To a question, he said the event would be held for nearly three hours as against one and a half hours in Tirumala. The speciality of the event was that eminent singers would sing Saint Annamacharya's 'sankirthans' during the Kalyanotsavam, while Archakas would be brought from Tirumala to perform the rituals.

He said TTD had so far organised 50 such 'Kalyanotsavams' outside Tirumala, including in Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai. Records showed that Annamacharya, an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, had organised such 'Kalyanotsavams' in the 16th century in the surrounding villages of Tirumala, he added.

UNI SR RS LS HT2112