Vijayawada Unites to Celebrate Rama Navami Across Temples

VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada celebrated Sri Rama Navami across the city with unparalleled fervour on Friday, with the divine wedding of Sita and Rama unfolding at three iconic venues, drawing thousands of devotees and underscoring the region’s deep spiritual fervour.

At the grandest spectacle atop the revered Indrakeeladri hill shrine of Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Devasthanam, priests performed the Sita-Rama Kalyanam at exactly 12 noon during the auspicious Abhijit Muhurtham. Chief priest R. Srinivasa Sastry, deputy chief priest Kota Prasad, and a team of Vedic scholars conducted the ceremony on a specially erected stage near the Rajagopuram.

Temple executive officer V.K. Seena Naik and Sthanacharya Vishnubhatla Shivaprasad Sharma, along with their spouses, offered silk garments to the deities. Those present included temple trust members A. Srinivasa Rao, Raghavaraju, Sarojini Devi, and Kalavati.

Simultaneously, at the Sri Veera Anjaneya Swamy Temple on the Krishna riverbank, Durga Temple Trust Board chairman Borra Radhakrishna (Gandhi) participated in the Kalyanam and offered silk garments. Large crowds gathered along the river to witness the Vedic ceremonies.

Adding a distinctive touch to the festivities, the Armed Reserve Police Temple on Bandar Road, Vijayawada, saw NTR district deputy commissioner of police Krishna Kanth Patel and his wife performing the celestial wedding. DCPs K.G.V. Saritha, B. Lakshmi Narayana and their spouses, apart from a host of additional DCPs, ACPs, inspectors, officers, personnel, and police association members attended the ceremony amid Vedic chants.

Devotees across these venues received panakam, vadapappu, tirtha prasadam, and annadanam. The celebrations underscored universal harmony, righteousness, and the enduring spiritual bond between the city’s diverse communities.