It is the biggest offering that a state govt has made to the hill shrine since Independence
Seen as a thanksgiving trip after the formation of the state in 2014, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday donated gold ornaments worth around Rs 5 crore to the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala.
Accompanied by family members and some Cabinet colleagues, Rao arrived late on Tuesday by a special flight on a 15-hour maiden spiritual visit to the ancient temple.
After offering prayers to the presiding deity (Lord Venkateswara), the Telangana CM handed over a golden garland studded with fossilised shells called ‘Shaligram Haram’, and a multi-layer gold necklace called ‘Makhara Kantabharanam’, which in total weigh about
19 kg and are worth about Rs 5 crore, to the temple’s Executive Officer, D Sambasiva Rao, temple sources said.
It was the first such huge offering made by a state government after Independence to the 2,000-year-old hill shrine, the richest in the world, the sources added.
Later, at the sprawling Ranganayaka Mandapam inside the shrine, Rao was honoured with a sacred silk cloth and prasadam while the high priests, chanting Vedic hymns, bestowed blessings on him.
Various media houses reported that the CM offered his obeisance at the shrine of Sri Padmavathi in Tiruchanur, where he offered a nose stud to Goddess Padmavati Ammavaru and a solid ornament to Lord Balaji. Later in the week, he will also offer a gold moustache to the Veerbhadraswamy temple at Kuravi.
In a brief chat with media persons outside the shrine, Rao said he came to the shrine to offer prayers and gifts to Lord Venkateswara as a fulfillment of a vow he had made.
In October last year, Rao had offered a 12-kg gold crown worth Rs 3.5 crore to Goddess Bhadrakali in Warangal.
(With agency inputs)
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