The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to introduce the ‘Tulabharam’ rituals at the Padmavathi temple in Tiruchanur.
‘Tulabharam’ is an age-old ritual wherein a devotee sits on a weighing balance (scale) and donates coins, rice, wheat, sugar and jaggery among other things equivalent to his weight to the temple.
The TTD has simplified the procedure for the ritual at the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala by entrusting the responsibility to a nationalised bank, relieving the devotees of the burden of carrying the gift materials to the temple. The bank staff, in the presence of the vigilance sleuths, record the weight of the devotee by making him sit on the scale and the devotees deposit the amount equivalent to the cost of the material they intends to gift to the temple at the bank.
Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe was the latest addition to the list of foreign dignitaries who performed the ritual at the Lord Venkateswara temple in 2019. Ace shuttler P.V. Sindhu had also performed the ritual after winning a silver medal in the Rio Olympics. With requests pouring in from devotees for introduction of ‘Tulabharam’ at the Padmavathi temple akin to the one being performed at Tirumala temple, the TTD consulted the Agama advisers before giving a go-ahead to the proposal.
Meanwhile, a devotee from Chennai has come forward to bear the entire cost involved in the installation of the weighing scale on the temple premises. The TTD officials say that the works are likely to be completed by the month-end and the rituals will be introduced on an auspicious day in the first week of July.
