One lakh coconuts broken daily

Pilgrims are breaking one lakh coconuts on an average every day during the Navarathri Brahmotsavams at Bedi Hanuman temple and Akhandam, according to a press release from the TTD.

Bedi Hanuman temple is on a high platform of about 15 feet high and the grand stand of Akhandam about a furlong away, directly opposite the Mahadwaram of Lord Venkateswara temple.

While prayers and breaking of coconuts at the temple mark the end of trekking by pilgrims, the place is also the beginning point for carrying official honours by heads of states and religious institutions.

Legend has it that young Hanuman was told by his mother Anjana Devi not to leave the Tirumala hills. She bound his his hands with a ‘bedi’ (handcuffs) and ordered him to stay right there till she returned.

Obaying his mother’s word, Hanuman is seen standing in front of the Mahadwaaram till today. Every time ‘naivedyam’ is offered to Lord Srinivasa and Varahaswamy, it is brought to the temple of Lord Hanuman as per the instructions of Anjana Devi.

In front of Hanuman temple, there is the Akhanda Jyothi, also known as Akhilandam, and pilgrims after climbing the hills by foot, come to this place, break a coconut and light camphor and incense sticks.

“We have developed the surroundings of Akhandam and the coconut-breaking platform to honour tradition and the devotional link between the trekking devotees and Tirumala,” says TTD executive officer LV Subramanyam.

Earlier, the Bedi Hanuman temple was located on Sannidhi street on a platform right opposite Lord Venkateswara temple. In Vaishnavite tradition, it is customary to have either Garuda or Hanuma opposite the main temple. After the demolition of the thousand pillar mantapam and the shops on the Sannidhi street, Akhandam and Bedi Hanuman temple have been re-erected on an elevated platform adjacent to Asthana Mantapam.

What was a ritual for the pilgrims who come by walk is now practised by all the devotees who visit the hill shrine.

Vijay Kumar, the supervisor who sells coconuts on behalf of the temple, says the TTD has fixed a price of Rs 10 for a packet of  coconut, camphor etc. “A coconut is broken every half a second and one portion of it is dropped in the hundi. We clear the coconut hundi thrice a day,“ he said.

All the donated coconut pieces are sent to the Annadanam kitchen for preparation of food items.

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