Renovation process of Lord Venkatramana Temple begins with Nidhi Kalasha Shilanyasa

Mangalore Today News Network

Pic- Manju Neereshwallya

Mangalore, May 6: The ‘Nidhi Kalasha Shilanyasa’ the first step towards re-consecrating Lord Venkataramana in the temple, conducted at the premises of Lord Venkatramana Temple, Car Street on Friday, May 6.

The ‘Nidhi Kalasha Shilanyasa’, the formal process of renovation of the ancient Lord Venkataramana Temple, was organized under the guidance of Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji, the present pontiff of Kashi Math Samsthanam.

As part of the rituals, a kalash (a pot with a coconut above it) filled with gold, silver and “Navaratnas” was placed to start the construction work on Friday.

On Friday, the ceremony began at 7 a.m. with devotees taking the photograph of Vibhudendra Thirtha Swamiji in a silver palanquin in a procession from the temple. With singing of bhajans, the procession passed through the Mahamaya Temple Road, Field Street, Dongerkeri, Chitra Talkies road, Lower Car Street and return to the temple.

The Lord Venkataramana Temple is one of the prominent pilgrim centres in Mangalore and it has a large number of followers from the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin community. Lord Veera Venkatesha, the main deity of the temple, was installed at the temple in 1804 by the then seer of Kashi Math Vibhudendra Thirtha Swamiji.

The other deities consecrated on the temple premises later were Lord Ganesha, Garuda, Ganapati and Saraswati.

The math decided to take up renovation of the temple as the old structure had been becoming weak and the wooden frames were being eaten by termites.

“The new sanctum santorum will be taller than the old structure. It will be built using black stone,” said Manju Neereshwallya, spokesperson of the Sri Venkataramana Temple Jeernoddhara Committee, which is overseeing the renovation work.

The Kashi Math seer will perform two other ceremonies related to renovation of the temple on January 24, 2012.