TIRUPATI: Elected representatives from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other states, judges, bureaucrats, celebrities and other VIPs thronged the hill temple in Tirumala on Monday, marking the Vaikunta Ekadasi, for darshan of Lord Venkateswara.
They also took the opportunity to tread through the ‘Vaikunta Dwaram’, a ritual that’s considered to relieve devotees from the cycle of rebirth. Around 5,800 odd VIP passes for darshan were issued on Vaikunta Ekadasi eve this year.
The VIPs included former Union minister Prakash Javadekar, Tamil Nadu High Court acting chief justice T. Raja, AP High Court judges Justice T. Rajasekhar Rao, Justice V. Srinivas, Justice M. Ganga Rao, Justice Ravinath Tilhari, Telangana High Court judges Justice Surepalli Nanda, Justice E.V. Venugopal, Punjab High Court judge Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj, Kerala High Court judge Justice Sarasate Venkatanarayana Bhatti and Karnataka High Court judge Justice Dinesh Kumar.
AP ministers who had Vaikunta Dwara Darshan included Deputy CMs Narayana Swamy, Muthyala Naidu, K. Nageswara Rao, P. Ramachandra Reddy, Ambati Rambabu, Ushari Charan, M. Nagarjuna, G. Amarnath, P. Viswaroop, G. Jayaram, government whips K. Dharmasri, Srikanth Reddy and Prasad Raju. MPs P.V. Mithun Reddy, V. Prabhakar Reddy, M. Gurumurthy and CM Ramesh also had darshan.
Several Telangana ministers, MLAs and MLCs also offered worship at the hill shrine. These included C. Malla Reddy, Erraballi Dayakar Rao, Srinivas Goud, G. Kamalakar and former minister Danam Nagender.
Several elected representatives from AP, TS and other states offered prayers at the Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala on the Vaikunta Ekadasi eve.
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