Tirupati, July 10, 2013: The annual ‘Sakshatkara Vaibhavam’ celebrations will be held at the Sri Kalyana Venkateswaraswami temple at Srinivasa Mangapuram here from July 12 to 14.

As a part of the celebrations, ‘Snapana Thirumanjanam’ (celestial bath) will be performed to the deities and ‘Unjal Seva’ will be carried out every day. Other programmes like ‘Hanumantha Vahana Seva’ (July 13) and ‘Garuda Seva’ (July 14) will be held subsequently in the evening after 8 pm.

The historical significance of the event dates back to the year 1940, when Lord Kalyana Venkateswara was said to have appeared in the dream of Sundararaja, a resident of Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), and ordered him to restore the temple’s past glory. The temple, which had been ravaged by the Muslim rulers in 1780 AD and renovated and declared as a heritage monument by the British regime, however remained unfit for performance of the daily rituals. Sundararaja cleared the temple of the shrubbery and anthills.

Musical programmes

The first ‘Puja’ was performed on July 11, 1940 and the day is observed as an annual festival at the temple. Devotional music programmes will be held every day under the aegis of TTD’s Hindu Dharma Prachara Parishad, Annamacharya Project and SV College of Music and Dance.

Source: the Hindu, DT. July 10, 2013.