Commemorating the opening of the renovated Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi at Kedarnath by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on Friday observed special rituals at its Srinivasa Mangapuram and Vontimitta temples in Chittoor and Kadapa districts respectively.
The temples are believed to have been visited by the ‘Jagadguru’ during his countrywide tour (Desa Sanchara) to establish Advaita Siddhanta.
TTD Joint Executive Officer V. Veerabrahmam paid floral tributes to the portrait of Adi Shankaracharya on Sri Kalyana Venkateswara temple premises in Srinivasa Mangapuram and launched the special spiritual programmes.
As the TTD arranged giant LED screens at both temples, hundreds of devotees gathered at the shrines to witness the live telecast of the opening fete of the Samadhi at Kedarnath.
The students of Sri Venkateswara College of Music and Dance performed ballets while artistes from the Annamacharya Project presented sankirtans and Harikatha Parayanam. The scholars roped in by the TTD’s Hindu Dharma Prachara Parishat (HDPP) delivered religious discourses on the life of Adi Shankaracharya.
As the event was simultaneously conducted at 13 shrines across the State, BJP leaders and members swarmed the temples in large numbers.
BJP State co-in-charge Sunil Deodhar and State spokesperson G. Bhanuprakash Reddy visited the Kalyana Venkateswara temple and paid tributes to the Jagadguru. The Prime Minister’s live address and the unveiling of the Shankaracharya statue drew wide applause.
