Today’s Ankurarpanam To Set The Stage For Tirumala Salakatla Brahmotsavam
Ankurarpanam at Tirumala marks the ceremonial beginning of the nine-day Salakatla Brahmotsavam of Lord Venkateswara.
The nine-day Salakatla Brahmotsavam of Lord Venkateswara will take the first ceremonial step on Monday evening with the Ankurarpanam, the traditional sowing of nine types of seeds.
The ritual will be performed at the Tirumala temple’s Yagasala between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, a day before the nine-day Brahmotsavam begins. The ceremony will be conducted according to the Vaikhanasa Agama tradition.
As part of Ankurarpanam, priests fill earthen pots with soil and sow nine types of grains, each associated with one of the nine planets. Wheat represents the Sun, rice the Moon, red gram Mars, green gram Mercury, chickpeas Jupiter, black-eyed peas Venus, sesame Saturn, black gram Rahu, and horse gram Ketu.
The Ankurarpanam ritual will be preceded by Medini Puja, which seeks the blessings of Bhudevi before collecting the soil required for sowing the seeds. Priests recite the Bhusuktam during the ceremony.
The seeds will be nurtured throughout the nine-day Brahmotsavam. On the final day, the sprouts will be separated and offered to Lord Venkateswara as part of the Akshataropana ritual.
Significantly, Ankurarpanam is performed before major Vedic festivals as a prayer for prosperity, good crops, and the well-being of all living beings.
The Senadhipathi Utsavam will also be held on Monday evening. Sri Vishwaksena, regarded as the commander of Lord Venkateswara’s divine forces, will be taken in a procession along the mada streets. The procession signifies Vishwaksena’s role in overseeing the arrangements for the Brahmotsavam.
