Udupi: Thousands of Devotees Witness Celestial ‘Marriage of Gods’ 

Report from Nina Rai
Pics : Janardhan Kodavoor
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (GA)

Udupi, Nov 10:  Nearly eight thousand devotees dressed in colourful traditional finery like one does for any nuptial, witnessed first-hand the celestial spectacle of Lord Balaji exchanging vows with his consorts Goddesses Bhoodevi and Sridevi at the Sri Srinivasa Kalyanotsava at the Kodavoor Shirdi Sai Baba temple grounds here on Saturday November 8. The Kalyanotsav began at 4 pm and went on till 9 pm.

The entire proceedings of the divine wedding was organized by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), Tirupati Dasa Sahitya’s Venkatesh Murthy in coordination with host and major sponsors K Diwakar Shetty, Krishna Bangera, Yashodan Shetty, Tilak Raj and Sudhakar Shetty.  The ceremony was conducted directly on stage so that all devotees could participate in the rituals. The enactment of ‘Srinivasa Kalyana’ is considered very auspicious and blessed according to Hindu mythology. The entire set including the Kalyana Mantapa, the idols of Lord and his consorts were brought from Tirupati and recreated on the grounds. The priests from Tirupati themselves sat down and made the huge colourful garlands for the Lord’s wedding. According to the priests, the grounds due to the divine wedding had been converted into Bhuvaswarga or Bhuvavaikunth (heaven) and hence no one was allowed inside with footwear on.

The function started with a narration of Lord Padmanabha or Balaji’s first meeting with Goddess Padmavati and how his wedding was arranged by the latter. The entire bhajan was sung on stage by Pavan Bhat of Hubli. This was followed by a small speech given by Sri Vishweshateerrtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math, who blessed the organizers of the show by presenting them with shawls. He was present throughout the function and regularly came on stage to offer puja to the deities.

The actual divine wedding ceremony began with the ‘Mangal Snana’ puja which is the ritualistic bath given to the goddesses Sridevi and Bhoodevi after anointing them with turmeric and sandalwood paste. After which the ‘Vastra Alankara’ puja was done adorning them with lovely clothes. This was followed by ‘Sringaara’ puja decorating and applying kumkum and adornments on the idols. And finally the ‘Saubagya Alankara’ was done by offering Aarti to the goddesses.

On completion of all the rituals the deities were brought to the Vivaha Mantapa and seated next to Lord Balaji on either side of him. The wedding ceremony was performed by K Diwaker Shetty and his wife Veena Shetty as is customary, by ‘Hasta Milapa’ (holding of hands) of Goddesses by the Lord. After which the ‘thali’ or ‘mangalsutra’ was tied on the Goddess and the marriage solemnized with Aarthi Archane. Amidst chanting of Vedic mantras the entire grounds reverberated with the cries of ‘Hare Hare Srinivasa’ and ‘Govindaan Govinda,’ as the wedding ceremony concluded. Large LCD screens erected across the grounds beamed the events live.