Devotees throng Tirumala,Srirangam shrines on Vaikunta Ekadasi

Hundreds of thousands of devotees today thronged the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala and Lord Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam on the sacred 'Vaikunta Ekadasi' festival today.
More than 1.5 lakh devotees from across the country thronged the Lord Venkateswara temple while thousands offered worship at the temple in Srirangam near Tiruchirappalli, considered the foremost among the 108 sacred Vaishnavite temples.
A report from Tirupati said pilgrims waiting since yesterday afternoon in serpentine queue lines and massive queue complexes were allowed for offering worship into the temple from the wee hours uninterruptedly.
After offering worship, they walked out through the bedecked sacred 'Vaikunta Dwarams (passage)', which is opened once a year on the Vaikunta Ekadasi day, encircling the sanctum of the shrine.

The presiding deity of Lord Venkateswara was adorned with several gem-set golden ornaments, including the giant diamond studded golden crown and golden peethambaram, they told PTI.
A golden chariot procession of the Lord was also taken out around the over 2000-year-old shrine on the holy occasion this morning as the shouts of 'Govindaa and Govindaa' in chorus by the devotees reverberated through out the hills.

In Srirangam, the 'sorgavasal' (celestial gateway to heaven) was opened in the wee hours with devotees passing through it along with presiding deity Namperumal, adorned with Rathina Angi (dress made of ruby and diamond).
The richly decorated idol of the deity left the sanctum sanctorum around 2 AM and reached the Tirumanani Mandapam, where the festival was held, at 5 AM.

The festival in Srirangam was marred by protests and complaints by devotees against 'excessive' presence of police personnel and politicians.