The Veerabhadra Swamy temple at Lepakshi in Sri Sathya Sai district is fully geared up for the 11-day ‘Sharannavaratri’ celebrations, which commenced on Monday. The historic temple is expected to draw a surge of devotees from several parts of Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Karnataka.
The Endowments Department officials said that the festivities will feature daily rituals, floral decorations for the presiding deity, and cultural programmes, which will be the highlight of the Dasara celebrations. Special pujas to Goddess Durga will be performed daily, while ‘Annadanam’ has already commenced on the temple premises.
The temple committee chairman, Karanam Rama Nandan, said that the Dasara festival was being organised under the guidance of Hindupur MLA and actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, who had been monitoring the arrangements. The police administration had already grounded the bandobast action plan for the festivities, he said. The temple officials appealed to the devotees to sponsor daily floral decorations and annadanam. “We are expecting a huge turnout of devotees during these Navaratri celebrations,” a temple official said.
Meanwhile, the hill shrine of Sri Boyakonda Gangamma, administered by the Endowments Department, in Chowdepalle mandal of Chittoor district, is spruced up for the nine-day festivities. The temple draws about 3 lakh people during the Navaratri celebrations, with a large chunk of devotees from neighbouring Karnataka.
The celebrations began with special ‘alankarams’ of the presiding deity in various forms, including Sakambari, Saraswati, and Annapurna. The temple priests performed ‘homams’ and special rituals on Monday. The APSRTC officials said that during the Navarathri festivities, special buses would be operated from Madanapalle, Chittoor, Tirupati, and Bengaluru for the convenience of the devotees.
Published – September 22, 2025 06:22 pm IST
