HYDERABAD:Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is fond of performing yagams and yagnas, has now decided to hold ‘Aayatha Maha Chandi Yagam’ for five days starting from December 23 at his farmhouse in Medak district, Telangana. This is the first yagam to be conducted by the silver-tongued politician, after the formation of the new state. During his recent visit to Delhi, he even invited President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in the proposed yagam.
According to sources close to KCR, as many as 10 quintals of ghee will be used daily during the five-day Chandi Yagam. The cost of the ghee alone will be around `20 lakh. Around 1,100 purohits (priests) will perform the yagam from December 23 to 27 on a 22-acre land. It is estimated that around 10 tonnes of Moduga (Butca frondosa) fire wood is required for the yagam and the organisers have already started collecting the required wood. Ahead of the yagam, the organisers are levelling the 22-acre land in the farmhouse and have also started erecting makeshift guest rooms for the five-day stay of peethadhipathis (pontiffs), Governors of various states and other VIPs. Around 30,000 visitors will be served food every day at the Yagam Sthali. During separate Telangana movement, KCR had performed Chandi Yagam for four times.
The yagam will be performed by him as a ‘thanksgiving’ gesture to Goddess Chandi for realising his dream of getting statehood for Telangana and also for becoming the first CM of the state. But the timing of his decision to perform a huge yagam assumes significance. KCR is preparing himself for the yagam at a time when his party is going to face an acid test in the ensuing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls in Hyderabad city where Seemandhra voters are likely to decide the fortunes of the ruling TRS.