Elaborate ceremonies preceded the inauguration

The Sri Venkateswara temple at the country’s southern tip of Kanyakumari was inaugurated by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) with a ‘Maha Kumbhabhishekam’ ritual on Sunday.

The temple, developed at an estimated cost of ₹22.50 crore, is part of the TTD’s outreach towards Tamil devotees who form almost half of the daily arrivals in Tirupati.

The temple was formally commissioned at the auspicious ‘Kumbha Lagnam’ between 7.30 am and 9 am on Sunday, marking the end of a five-day elaborate series of religious ceremonies. This is the major temple to be inaugurated in the TTD circuit in the country, after Kurukshetra (Haryana) with a budget of ₹34.60 crore on July 1 last year.

Vastrams for temples

The TTD has also reached out to prominent temples in Tamil Nadu by extending silk ‘Vastrams’ on auspicious occasions. The Tirumala temple receives similar return gifts from Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple in Srirangam on Anivara Asthanam day and Sri Andal temple in Srivilliputtur during Brahmotsavams every year.

“We regularly hold activities and maintain a good rapport with the devotees through our Kalyana Mandapam-cum-information centres in Rajapalayam, Neyveli and Hosur,” Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal said.

Going a step further, the TTD is preparing to build a temple dedicated to Goddess Sri Padmavathi Ammavaru at G.N. Chetty Road in the heart of Chennai city at an amount of ₹5.75 crore.