india

Updated: Dec 29, 2018 19:47 IST

Known for his staunch belief in Hindu rituals and customs, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is contemplating performing yet another “homam” on a large scale, apparently to seek divine blessings for his attempts to foray into national politics.

The five-day Maha Rudhra Sahitha Sahasra Maha Chandi Yagam will be held at the farmhouse of TRS president at Erravelli village of Jadevpur block in Siddipet district in the last week of January. Though the exact dates have not been confirmed, the yagam is likely to be held from January 21 to 25, party sources said.

A senior official of the Telangana government familiar with the development confirmed to Hindustan Times that KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, had decided to conduct the yagam for the welfare of the people and his future endeavours to make the state and the country prosperous. “Details of the yagam are being worked out,” he said, refusing to elaborate further.

Buoyant with the tremendous victory of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the recent assembly elections, KCR has set in motion the exercise to float a federal front of regional parties at the national level as an alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Before kicking off the election campaign in November, the TRS president performed “Raja Syamala Yagam” at his Erravelli farm house under the auspices of Sri Visakha Sarada Peetham seer Swamy Swaroopanandendra for the victory of the party in the elections.

“The Swamiji suggested that another Yagam be performed after achieving victory for which KCR has agreed. Now, he is following the suggestion,” Ponangi Kiran, a disciple of the seer, said.

The proposed Sahasra Maha Chandi Yagam will be held under the auspices of Sringeri Sarada Peetham seer Jagadguru Bharati Teertha Swamy. More than 200 eitwiks (priests who perform the yagam) would take part in the ritual, which involves recitation of 1000 different hymns praising Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga.

In 2015, KCR caught the attention of the entire country by performing the gigantic Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagam for five consecutive days at his farmhouse from December 23 to 27. Over 2,500 priests participated in the yagam performed in 101 homa kundams (pyre constructed with bricks) in the sprawling 40-acre yagasala without break for five consecutive days. Several seers like Sankaracharyas, spiritual gurus like Sri Sri Ravishankar and a large number of VIPs and politicians attended the Chandi Yagam.

Even before coming to power, KCR performed yagams like Chandi Yagam and Maha Mruthyunjaya Homam at the Telangana Bhavan, the headquarters of the TRS.He believes that these had helped him in realising the dream of achieving separate state for Telangana.