VELLORE: About 2,000 people witnessed the kumbabhishekam of the 2,000-year-old Sri Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy Temple located atop the hills in Sholinghur, which was performed on Friday after a gap of 43 years. The ritual was conducted at 7.45 a.m. amidst chanting of ‘mantras.'
The kumbabhishekam marks the consecration of the gold-plated ‘vimanams' (towers atop the shrines) of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy and Amirthabhalavalli Thayar and the renovated Rajagopuram of the temple. Renovation of the temple, including the gold-plating of the vimanams, was completed at a cost of about Rs. 25 crore, mostly with donations from philanthropists and people.
The work on renovation of the temple was inaugurated by K.R. Periyakaruppan, Minister for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department on February 28, 2007. He was one of the dignitaries present during the kumbabhishekam. The vimanam of the shrine of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy was gold-plated with 56 kg of gold at a cost of Rs.11.50 crore, while that of Amirthabhalavalli Thayar was gold-plated with 52 kg of gold at a cost of Rs.10.50 crore. The gold-plated car for the procession of the ‘uthsavar' deity of Thayar has been designed at a cost of Rs.1.25 crore.
The interior walls of the ‘mandapam' and the doors leading to the sanctum sanctorum have also been gold-plated. Granite flooring has been provided inside the temple.
People started making a beeline to the temple right from the wee hours of Friday. Since the space in the temple atop the hills was too small, the police regulated the entry of devotees climbing the hills at two levels on the steps right from the early hours of Friday.
C. Rajendran, Collector of Vellore, P.R. Sampath, Commissioner of HR &CE, G. Packirisamy, Joint Commissioner, HR & CE, A. Veerabadhran, Assistant Commissioner, HR & CE and Executive Officer of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy Temple, R. Gandhi, Ranipet MLA and president of the renovation committee, Arul Anbarasu, Sholinghur MLA and vice-president of the committee, other vice-presidents A.M. Velu, former MP, M. Bhoopalan, industrialist of Bangalore and M. Easwarappan, president of the Board of Trustees of Sri Subramaniaswamy Temple, Tiruttani, A.P. Gopikrishna, president of Sholinghur Town Panchayat and C. Gnanasekaran, Vellore MLA, were among those who were present.
S. Jagathrakshakan, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, worshiped the temple from the foothills and left.
MAY WE PRAY LORD SRI LAKHSHMI NARASIMHASWAMY, AMIRTHBHALAVALLI THAYAR
ALONG WITH ANJANEYAR BLESS THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE.
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