india

Updated: Jul 31, 2019 10:58 IST

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will soon perform what can be considered the “mother of all yagams,” in a famous Hindu hill shrine in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district of the state.

According to a late-night official release from the chief minister’s office, KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, discussed the arrangements to be made for the yagam with Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy at his ashram earlier on Tuesday. The date and muhurtham or time would be finalised soon.

The mega ritual – Maha Sudharshana Yagam – will be performed near the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, also known as Yadadri, dedicated to Lord Narasimha, about 65km from Hyderabad. As many as 1,048 yagna kundas, small pyres made of bricks where the ritual is performed, would be constructed in this 100-acre yagna vatika.

“More than 1,000 rithviks (Vedic pundits who perform yagams) and another 3,000 assistants would conduct the one-day ritual,” the CMO spokesperson said.

The chief minister will rope in the peetaadhipathis of the Vaishnava peethams (mutts) from across the country, including Badrinath, Srirangam, Jagannath, Tirupati and other holy places, besides other seers from all over the world.

KCR has also decided to invite all the top leaders from the central government, all chief ministers, governors and ministers, besides spiritual heads of all Hindu sects concerned to the Sudershana Yagam.

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“The government is contemplating that the ritual would be thrown open to common people as well. So, lakhs of devotees are expected to participate in the Yagam and all arrangements would be made accordingly,” the spokesperson said.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president, who does not hesitate to display his staunch belief in Hindu rituals and customs, caught the attention of the entire country by performing the gigantic Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagam for five consecutive days at his farmhouse in Erravelli village of Siddipet district from December 23 to 27, 2015.

More than 2,500 priests participated in the yagam performed in 101 homa kundams in the sprawling 40-acre yagasala without a break for five consecutive days. Several seers like the shankaracharyas, spiritual gurus like Sri Sri Ravishankar and a large number of VIPs and politicians attended the yagam.

Soon after coming to power in the assembly elections held in December last year, KCR performed a similar mega homam, Maha Rudhra Sahitha Sahasra Maha Chandi Yagam, at the same farmhouse in the last week of January under Sri Visakha Sarada Peetham seer Swamy Swaroopanandendra.

In the past, too, the TRS chief has performed several such yagams. Even on the day of the inauguration of the Kaleshwaram project in June, he conducted rituals on the banks of Godavari river.