Purnahuti concludes Chandiyagam

Purnahuti (the final ritual culminating the 5-day Chandiyagam) at Erravelli in Medak district is over! This happened on Sunday in an unplanned manner with the participation by the two Telugu Chief Ministers, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who undertook the Vedic ritual, and his AP counterpart, Chandrababu Naidu. Special invitee Chandrababu arrived at the venue with gifts from the famed Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada. These included three dozens of bananas, a silk sari, turmeric and vermilion. AP Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who accompanied Chandrababu, handed over the Kanakadurga gifts one by one to Chandrababu. The AP Chief Minister, in turn, handed each gift over to KCR who put them in the Vedic fire as the priests chanted the Vedic mantras. Thus, KCR concluded the Purnahuti (final ritual of Chandiyagam), according to religious pandits such as Swarupanandaswami of Visakha Sarada Peetham. The fire that broke out subsequently bringing the Yagashala (Vedic venue) down did not interrupt the rituals at all. In fact the big fire is Purnahuti at its peak.