Lord Balaji temple cleaned ahead of brahmotsavam

The entire sprawling complex of the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala was today cleaned in a traditional ceremony amid chanting of vedic hymns by high priests on the eve of annual nine-day 'Brahmotsavam' festival commencing on October 3.
The temple cleaning ceremony called as "Koil Alwar Tirumanjanam" was conducted with "sacred paste" made of sandalwood, finer camphor, turmeric, vermilion and some rare medicinal roots available on Tirumala hills, Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which administers the shrine, Chadalavada Krishnamurthy told PTI.
As part of the holy sanitisation task, all structures in the ancient temple such as sanctum sanctorum, mandapams, sub-shrines, pillars, walls, roofs and the kitchens where the famous 'laddu prasadam' are made were cleaned by the priests and other important functionaries of the shrine, he said.

The idol of presiding deity of Lord Venkateswara was veiled with a specially made cloth called "Malaigudaram" to prevent grunge and wet bits.
Devotees were not permitted into the shrine for about four hours from dawn when the cleansing process was in progress, that bestowed a pleasant aroma to the entire shrine.
Krishnamurthy said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu offer a set of new silk cloths to Lord Venkateswara on behalf of the state government on the opening day of the festival, as per a four decade-long practice.
The silk cloth would be adorned on the utasav idol of the temple during the "Garudaseva" Procession, the main event of the brahmotsavam, to be held on October 7, he added.