Heavy turn out of devotees on Vaikunda Ekadasi day at Srirangam temple

Annual Vaikunda Ekadasi festival at Srirangam temple draws thousands of devotees to worship Lord Renganatha and Sri Namperumal.

Religious fervour permeated the temple town of Srirangam as devotees turned out in large numbers and offered worship to Lord Renganatha and Sri Namperumal - the processional deity- at the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple on the auspicious ‘Vaikunda Ekadasi’ day on Friday- (January 10, 2024). 

The high point of the ongoing 22-day annual Vaikunda Ekadasi festival at the temple which commenced on December 30 was the opening of the ‘Parampadavasal’ in the early hours on Friday. Clad in gem-studded armour, the processional deity Sri Namperumal was taken out in a holy procession after completion of rituals in the early hours in the sprawling temple complex.

The processional deity, followed by devotees, was taken through the Raja Mahendran Thiruchutru, Kulasekaran Thiruchutru before reaching the ‘Vraja Nadhi Mandapam where it halted for some time.  Vedic hymns were chanted before the processional deity at the Vraja Nadhi Mandapam.  The deity thereafter began to proceed slowly towards the ‘Paramapadavasal’ with chants of Renga Renga and Govinda Govinda renting the air. 

The ‘Paramapadavasal’ was opened at 5.15 a.m. and the processional deity passed through it to reach the ‘Manal Veli where devotees in large numbers had congregated to have darshan of Sri Namperumal.  The deity was then taken to the Thirumamani Asthana Mandapam inside the Thousand Pillar Mandapam which was decked up for the ongoing festival. The deity was placed at the mandapam for devotees to have a darshan.

Thousands of devotees lined up outside the temple complex from the late night hours on Thursday and waited patiently to offer worship to Sri Namperumal and Lord Renganathana. The annual Vaikunda Ekadesi festival is an important event at the Srirangam temple, also known as Bhooloka Vaikuntam, the foremost of the 108 ‘Divya Desams’. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Sekar Babu was present on the occasion and offered worship to the deity. The festival concludes with the Sri Nammazhwar Moksham on January 20.