Sri Rama Navami was celebrated with traditional gaiety and devotion across the state on Friday. Devotees, apart from offering prayers at their homes, thronged the temples of Lord Rama since early morning and consumed Vadapappu (water-soaked moong dal) and Panakam (jaggery, black pepper and cardamom mixed in water) as Prasadam.
Rama Navami is a very significant festival for Hindus. Sri Rama is the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu and main character in the Ramayana.
It is celebrated each year on the ninth day of Sukla Paksha of the Hindu lunar month of Chhaitra.
The main celebration of Sri Rama Navami in the state was organised at the famous Rama temple on the banks of Godavari river at Bhadrachalam in Khammam district in which chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy took part. ‘Sita Rama Kalyanam’ (celestial wedding of Rama and Sita) was performed by priests and the event was witnessed by a host of VIPs and an estimated three lakh devotees.
The chief minister presented the Pattu Vastralu (silk clothes) and Mutyala Talambralu (pearls) to the Lord on behalf of the government as per the tradition. Endowments minister C Ramachandraiah, several other ministers and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam chairman and Congress MP Kanumuri Bapiraju were among those who attended the event.
Shobha Yatra in Hyderabad
A Shobha Yatra (procession) was organised as part of the celebrations amid adequate security arrangements.
Police imposed restrictions on the movement of traffic in Goshamahal and Sultan Bazar traffic police stations limits for the smooth passage of the Yatra which began at Mahakaleswari Mandir (Rani Avanti Bai Function Hall) in Upper Dhoolpet and ended at the Ram Mandir in Gowliguda. All the roads on the yatra route were decorated with religious flags and buntings. Voluntary organisations erected temporary stalls and provided water and distributed prasadam to the devotees.
Traffic was stopped on roads leading to Bhoiguda Kaman, Puranapul, Mangalhat, Godekikhabar, Petlaburj, Karwan, Kulsumpura, Muslim Jung Bridge, Jummerath Bazar, City College and Afzalgunj.
The Ram temples in Gowliguda, Ameerpet, Basheerbagh, Begumpet, Balkampet, Sitarambagh, Sitafalmandi, Gandhinagar, Nallakunta, Vidyanagar, Malakpet, Red Hills, Chilkalguda, Lalapet, Sultan Bazar, Karwan, Saroornagar and in the old city were decorated beautifully.