last year's report about sri rama and sitamma kalyanam(marriage)......
it is unchanged every year.
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Monday, April 14, 2008
Devotees flock to see Ram marry Sita
Lakhs of devotees from various states will congregate in Bhadrachalam for the auspicious Sita Ram kalyanam (holy marriage)which is to be held on the occasion of Ramnavami on Monday.
The divine marriage of Lord Ram and Sita is one among the many unique facets of the shrine at Bhadrachalam.
In other temples, Lord Ram is usually depicted as wielding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other hand.But in Bhadrachalam temple, he appears in the four-handed form and is called Chaturbhuja Ram. The deity is seen as holding his famous kodanda bow and arrow in two of his hands and the shankha and chakra in his other two hands.
This divine image is meant to stress the fact that Lord Ram is an avatar of Lord Vishnu, the four-handed preserver of the world.
And when the Lord gets married to his divine consort Sita on the auspicious day, it moves devotees to high ecstasy.
"Every year, the number of devotees increase," says C.Venkatanagabhushanam, a merchant of Bhadrachalam, who has witnessed the kalyanam more than 20 times.
The devotees also treasure the Mutyala Talambralu, made with pearls, rice, pasupu and kunkum on the Kalyanam day.
It is prepared by the married women known amidst chanting of slokas from the Vedas.
Many who are unable to visit the temple to participate in the kalyanam get the Mutyala Talambralu from others and keep it in the puja rooms in their houses.
"Adi Sankara too visited Bhadrachalam and praised Lord Ram in Sanskrit verses," says the temple sthannacharulu, Mr K.E.Talasai.
Local people are fond of reciting the story of Bhakta Ramadasu, a great devotee of Lord Ram, who took the lead in constructing the temple, a holy site for the devotees. It was Pokala Dammakka, a tribal woman living in Bhadrireddypalem, who found the idols of Lord Ram, Lakshmana and Sita on a hillock and inspired Ramadasu to construct a temple.
There is still a stone carving depicting Dammakka worshipping the images of the Lord and his consort at the temple.
http://epaper.asianage.com/blog/labels/festival.html