Mangalore : Grand Tirupathi Srinivasa Kalyanotsava was held at the Malady Court in Bangrakulur Kavoor on February 12, Tuesday evening under the aegis of the Tirumala Tirupathi Temple and Sarvajanika Srinivasa Kalyanotsava Samithi of Mangalore.

The celestial ceremony was held  under the guidance and priesthood of Gururaj Acharya, Chief Priest of Tirupathi Temple. Over 10,000 devotees took part in the Kalyanotsava and witnessed the celestial wedding of Lord Srinivasa with Bhoodevi and Sridevi. The devotees were also offered Tirupathi Laddoos as Prasadam.

The Kalyanotsav was held amid the chanting of vedic hymns, bhajan Sankeerthan and various rituals.

This was the first time Srinivasa Kalyanotsava was held in Mangalore under the direct supervision of the Tirupathi Temple. The Pura Pravesha of Lord Srinivasa was  at Bunts Hostel on Tuesday morning and from there the procession reached Malady.

A team of 50 from Tirupathi including priests conducted the proceedings. First there was Punyahavachana, Ankurarpana, Navadhanya Pooja, Raksha Bandhan, Agni Pratishte, Mahasankalpa  and Ghotra Pravara Ghoshane and the ceremony concluded with Mangalyadharane.

On the occasion, one Srinivas attracted the attention by blowing the conch for a long duration. There was a huge donation box (hundi) to facilitate devotees making their offerings. Over 20,000 laddoos were also brought to be distributed to devotees.

Sri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji of Puttige Mutt, Sri Vidyaprasanna Theertha Swamiji of Subrahmanya Mutt, Sri Gurudevananda Swamiji of Sri Kshetra Odiyoor, Sri Mohandas Swamji of Sridhama Manila, Sri Esha Vittaldasa Swamiji of Kemar Sandeepani Ashram, Sri Rajashekharananda Swamiji of Sri Vajradehi Mutt, Sri Rudramuni Swamiji of Gurupur Jungama Mutt, Sri Muktananda Swamiji of Karinje Sri Raghavendra Mutt and others were present.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat were also present.

Addressing the function Maladi Ajith Kumar Rai, President of the Srinivasa Kalyanotsava Samithi, thanked all those who extended their co-operation in organizing the event.

Samithi Secretary Ravindranath Shetty, Joint Secretaries, Dr Ashajyothi Rai, Bhasker Kodialbail, Treasure CAR Hegde and others were present.