Artistes under the banner of ‘Rayalaseema Rangasthali’ taking out a procession commemorating the 895th birthday of Tirupati on Monday.
| Photo Credit: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar
The 895th formation day of Tirupati was observed in the form of a grand procession on the streets of the city on Monday.
According to Govindaraja Swamy temple history, it was 895 years back that Sri Vaishnavite philosopher Sri Ramanuja laid the foundation stone for the construction of the temple, besides forming an ‘Agraharam’ around it for the benefit of the priests and pundits discharging duty at Tirupati as well as Tirumala temples.
This technically marked the first step towards the formation of a township, which was initially known as ‘Govindarajapattanam’ or ‘Ramanujapuram’, which eventually came to be known by the name Tirupati, as we know it today.
Artistes dressed as Sri Venkateswara, Sri Ramanuja, Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, and other mythological characters participated in the grand procession. It may be recalled that the artistes and the devout already follow the practice of taking out a procession across the streets of Tirupati on every Saturday by performing ‘Nagara Sankeertana’ and doing ‘bhajans’.
Rayalaseema Rangasthali president Gundala Gopinath Reddy expressed delight at Tirupati having a clear historical background of its own formation, unlike several other major cities in the country.
City’s birthdate
It has been an ancient practice in Govindaraja Swamy temple to read out the date of consecration during a daily ritual, which became the primary source of information for arriving at the city’s birthdate. The day as mentioned in the Hindu calendar from 895 years back turned out to be February 24, when translated in accordance with the English calendar.
The day was fixed as Tirupati’s birthday and has been observed by the citizens for the last two years in the form of a grand procession on the four streets encircling Sri Govindaraja temple, which has been considered as the city’s first permanent dwelling colony.
Published – February 24, 2025 07:21 pm IST
