Tirupati: The festival of Varalakshmi Vratham was observed with devotion and religious fervour at Asthana Mandapam at the abode of Goddess Padmavathi Devi in Tiruchanoor on Friday.
As part of the fete, the processional deity of Goddess Padmavathi Devi was seated on the specially decked Ananda Nilaya Astalakshmi Vrata Mandapam and later Varalakshmi Vratham was observed as per the tenets of Pancharathra Agama by the priests in a grand manner.
With Nine holy threads, nine different forms of Goddess were invoked including Kamala Rama, Lokamatre, Vishwajanani, Mahalakshmi, Khseerabditanaya, Vishwasakshiny, Chandrasahodary and Harivallabha. Later chanting Torana Devtabhyo Namaha, holy thread was tied to the hand of the deity and Vrata Kalpam was read out by priests.
The stage where the entire festival lasted for nearly 3 hours is a cynosure to devotees. Over 1.5 tonnes of flowers and different varieties of fruits were used to deck the stage by garden wing of TTD with 85 artisans.
TTD EO Anil Kumar Singhal said this festival is usually observed to bestow the benign blessings of Universal Mother for the well being and prosperity of entire humanity. Tirupati JEO P. Basant Kumar, CVSO Gopinath Jatti, SVBC Chairman Prudhvi Raj, Temple DyEO Jhansi Rani and others were also present.
