TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will hold the Navaratri Brahmotsavams of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala from October 12 to 20, the second Brahmotsavam at the hill shrine this year, according to the temple's schedule for October reported by Telangana Today and the Deccan Chronicle.
The rituals will begin with Ankurarpanam on October 11, from 7 pm to 9 pm, the Deccan Chronicle reported. The festival formally opens the next day. One of its biggest events, the Garuda Seva, falls on October 16, and the Chakra Snanam that closes the festival will be performed on October 20.
Why there are two this year
The Brahmotsavam is the most important annual festival at the Venkateswara temple and draws pilgrims from across the world. The name combines "Brahma" and "utsavam", or festival; according to legend, Brahma comes down to earth to conduct it. It usually runs for nine days in September or October, in the Telugu month of Aasveeyujamu.
When the Telugu calendar has an extra month, known as Adhika Masam, the temple holds two Brahmotsavams in the same year: the annual Salakatla Brahmotsavam and the Navaratri Brahmotsavam. That last happened in 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2023. This year the Salakatla Brahmotsavam was held in September and ended on September 23, so the Navaratri festival follows less than three weeks later.
In the annual festival, the first day begins with the Dwajarohanam, the raising of the Garuda flag, which marks the start of the celebrations. On each day after that, the deity is taken out in procession on processional vehicles, or vahanams, in the form of a serpent, a swan, a lion, a chariot, an elephant or a horse, among others. The main chariot procession falls on the eighth day and the Chakra Snanam on the ninth.
The two festivals differ in some rituals. According to Tirtha Yatra, the Navaratri festival has a golden chariot procession, the Swarna Rathotsavam, on October 19, where the September festival had a Rathotsavam on September 22.
The schedule
The vahana processions will generally be held from 8 am to 10 am and from 7 pm to 9 pm. The Garuda Vahanam on October 16 will run longer, from 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm. The day-by-day schedule, as published by the Deccan Chronicle:
- October 12: Pedda Sesha Vahanam; golden Tiruchi procession
- October 13: Chinna Sesha Vahanam; Hamsa Vahanam
- October 14: Simha Vahanam; Muthyapu Pandiri Vahanam
- October 15: Kalpavriksha Vahanam; Sarvabhoopala Vahanam
- October 16: Mohini Avataram; Garuda Vahanam
- October 17: Hanumantha Vahanam; Pushpaka Vimanam; Gaja Vahanam
- October 18: Surya Prabha Vahanam; Chandra Prabha Vahanam
- October 19: Golden Chariot; Aswa Vahanam
- October 20: Chakrasnanam at 6 am
On the last day the temple's Chakra is given a ritual bath, the Chakra Snanam. It is then placed on a high platform, and devotees walk beneath it to be blessed by the water dripping from it. October 20 will also see the Sri Vedanta Desika Satthumora, Telangana Today reported.
A busy month on the hill
Telangana Today described the Navaratri Brahmotsavams as the major religious highlight of the month at Tirumala, and the festival sits in a crowded calendar. After it ends, Boodattalwar Varsha Thiru Nakshatram falls on October 21, and the month's major events close with the Pournami Garuda Seva on October 26, according to the schedule released for October.
The TTD expects large numbers of devotees during the nine days and will make special arrangements for darshan and pilgrim services, the Deccan Chronicle reported. Darshan tickets for October were released in July, according to the pilgrimage site Tirtha Yatra.
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