Sunday’s Lunar Eclipse Shuts Tirumala Temple At 3:30 P.M.
Shrine reopens for darshan on Monday around 3 A.M: Reports
TIRUPATI: The hill temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala witnessed a rare closure on Sunday, with Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) suspending darshan for nearly 12 hours on account of the lunar eclipse.
Though the eclipse occurred between 9:50 p.m. on Sunday and 1:31 a.m. on Monday, authorities shut the temple doors at 3:30 p.m., in line with the customary practice of closing the shrine several hours before the celestial event to ensure that preparations ahead of the eclipse are complete.
TTD Trust Board chairman B.R. Naidu told reporters that the closure of temples during eclipses is part of the Agama Shastra traditions.
Priests performed purification rituals after the eclipse ended, including Shuddhi, Punyahavachanam, Thomala, Koluvu and Panchanga Sravanam, before reopening the temple for devotees at 3 a.m.
Additional executive officer Ch. Venkaiah Chowdary clarified that all devotees waiting in the compartments on Sunday had their darshan before the doors of the Tirumala Temple had been closed. “Arrangements had been made to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to pilgrims,” he underlined.
With the TTD Annaprasadam complexes and canteens also closed due to the eclipse, TTD prepared nearly 50,000 packets of pulihora for distribution. This ensured that devotees did not go without food. Chowdary said regular food distribution will resume from 8 a.m. on Monday.
TTD also closed other temples under its administration, including Sri Govindaraja Swamy and Sri Kodandarama Swamy temples in Tirupati, Sri Padmavathi Ammavaru Temple at Tiruchanoor, Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Srinivasamangapuram, and Sri Abhaya Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Appalayagunta.
The Kanipakam Temple in Chittoor district too remained shut due to the eclipse.