Collector Pamela Satpathy presented silk vasthrams and thalambralu to the deities
It is believed that Lord Rama had learnt about the demise of his father Dasaratha when he was in 14-years exile in this village
KARIMNAGAR, APRIL 17, 2024: The celestial wedding of Lord Rama with his consort Sita was performed with religious fervour and gaiety at ancient and historic Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy devasthanam in Illandakunta mandal headquarters in Karimnagar district on Wednesday.
Several thousands of devotees from far-flung places of the district and adjoining Peddapalli and Warangal districts arrived in large numbers to witness the celestial wedding at Illandakunta. Collector Pamela Satpathy presented silk vastrams to the presiding deities on the occasion and witnessed the ceremony. Additional Collector Praful Desai, trainee Collector Ajay Yadav, RDO Ramesh Babu and others participated in the celebrations. Zilla Parishad chairperson K Vijaya, Huzurabad legislator P Kausik Reddy and others also witnessed the celebrations.
It is believed that Lord Rama along with Sita and his brother Laxman visited this village during their14-year vanvas (exile period). It was here that they learnt about the death of Rama’s father, king Dasaratha. So Rama performed ‘shradha puja’ of his father using the seeds of ‘Illanda’ tree and the village was thus named Illandakunta. It is also believed that the presiding deities at this ancient shrine were installed by Lord Rama and Sita themselves.
On this occasion, the Collector offered special prayers at the temple shrine. Later, she presented the silk vastrams and talambralu by taking out a processions amid traditions at the shrine. The district rice millers association organised a massive ‘annadhana’ programme of serving lunch to all the devotees who witnessed the celestial wedding.
The Collector inspected the nitya annadhana programme and appreciated the organisers for doing the noble service of providing food to the devotees. Nitya Annadhana organisers A Ramesh and Kasam Nagesh and others were also present. Earlier, Minister for Transport and BC Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar along with his family members offered prayers at the temple shrine.
