10,000 devotees to get food every day during Tiruchanur temple fete

Anticipating heavy footfall during the ensuing ‘Karthika Brahmotsavams’ at Tiruchanur Sri Padmavati Ammavari temple, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has made all arrangements to provide food to 10,000 devotees every day.

The objective is to meet the needs of 75,000 devotees on the ninth and final day, when the ‘Panchami Theertham’ will be observed on a grand scale.

TTD’s Executive Officer (EO) Anil Kumar Singhal, with the Joint Executive Officer V. Veerabrahmam and Chief Vigilance and Security Officer K.V. Muralikrishna, inspected the arrangements made at the temple here on Tuesday. Tirupati District Collector S. Venkateswar and Superintendent of Police (SP) L. Subbarayudu also joined the team to review the preparations for the annual festival, which will begin on November 17.

The team visited Navajeevan junction, Pudi Road junction on either side of Tiruchanur, besides inspecting the ZP High School, the four mada streets to oversee their capacity to withstand crowd movement.

1,600 police personnel will be deployed at the temple and its vicinity as part of the security arrangements, Mr. Singhal said, indicating the presence of round-the-clock surveillance to meet emergencies.

As a prelude to the event, the ‘Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam’ ritual was conducted at the temple on Tuesday morning. Considered a purificatory ritual, the event witnessed a mixture of camphor, sandal, turmeric, vermilion and others being smeared on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum, as well as in the inner precincts.

The inspection apparently took cognisance of the scheduled visit of President of India Droupadi Murmu to Tiruchanur, who will be offering prayers at the temple on November 20. Mr. Singhal assured that the common devotees would remain insulated from the process of extending temple honours to the VVIP.