Brahmotsavam begins with unfurling of Garuda flag

The annual Navaratri Brahmotsavam festivities at the Lord Venkateswara shrine near here commenced this evening with the unfurling of the sacred Garuda flag.
The high priests, amid chanting of vedic hymns, unfurled the flat atop the holy golden mast (Dwajasthambham) inside the hill shrine, marking commencement of the nine-day festival, temple sources said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu accompanied by his wife, in accordance with the four-decade old practice, made an offering of a set of new silk clothes to the shrine on behalf of the state government,the sources said.
Soon after, the centuries old ritual idols of Lord Venkateswara, Sri Lakshmi and Padmavathi were adorned with several gem-set ornaments and mounted on the 'golden Pedda Sesha Vahanam' and taken out in a grand procession around the temple complex, they said.