Ram Navami celebrations were held at various temples in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Thursday with fervour. Many devotees participated in the celebrations at the Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam, Telangana. Devotees witnessed the 'Sri Sita Rama Kalyanam' on the occasion of Ram Navami and also attended the celestial wedding of Lord Ram and Sita performed in temples.
A group of priests performed elaborate rituals to mark the celebrations. Priests performed rituals associated with Sitarama Kalyanam in the presence of Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy. Thousands of devotees watched the annual event at Mithali Stadium.
Telangana Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy and his wife offered 'pattu vastralu' (silk clothes) on behalf of the state government. Public representatives and district collectors of Khammam and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts offered 'Mutyala talambralu'.
Earlier, some rituals were performed in the main temple, and later, the deities were brought to the temple in a procession. The endowments department had put up tents for devotees to protect them from the scorching sun.
The area around the stadium was divided into 26 sectors for the devotees to watch the celestial wedding. One special officer was appointed for each sector to provide facilities to the devotees. The endowments department had set up 70 counters to provide talambralu to devotees. The temple authorities prepared two lakh packets of 'prasadam' for distribution among devotees.
More than 2,000 policemen were deployed as part of the security arrangements at the temple.
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, state BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Lok Sabha member A Revanth Reddy greeted people on the occasion of Sri Ram Navami.
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(With IANS inputs)