Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar
Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has announced that from now on, as per the protocol, Karnataka ministers, MLAs, judges and senior officials will be allowed to participate in the first aarti held every day at the Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati, a famous religious place in Andhra Pradesh.
After laying the foundation stone of Sri Shanmukh Subramanya Swamy Temple in Banashankari, Bengaluru, the CM said that an official protocol order will soon be issued by the state government in this regard.
Till now only CM could participate
The first aarti is performed every morning from Karnataka in Tirupati Tirumala temple. This tradition has been going on for 400 years. The Vijayanagara Empire of Hampi and later the Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore donated huge amounts of gold jewellery, land and materials required for daily worship to Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati. Since the Mysore state bore the expenses and provided the material for the daily worship of the temple, the kings of Mysore had the honor and right to receive the first aarti of the deity every morning.
After independence, the Government of Karnataka has continued this royal authority legally. As per tradition, the Chief Minister of Karnataka must stand in front of the sanctum sanctorum (Kulashekara Paadi) every morning and receive the first aarti and prasad of the deity on behalf of the entire Karnataka. Till now, in his absence, a special officer appointed by the state government used to receive this prasad.
The biggest announcement of my tenure- CM
The Chief Minister has asked the officials to issue instructions that from now on, ministers, MLAs, MPs, judges and senior IAS-IPS officers coming to Tirumala representing the Karnataka government should also be provided the facility to witness this sacred aarti and have darshan of the Lord.
CM Shivakumar said, ‘There are examples of many representatives and MLAs of our state going to Tirupati and returning empty handed without having proper darshan. From now on all dignitaries serving on behalf of Karnataka will have this supreme privilege of standing and praying before Thimmappa.’ He said that this is the most important and meaningful announcement of my tenure as Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, while sharing his personal views, the Chief Minister said that although Tirupati Venkateswara Swamy is his family deity, still he was not able to visit Tirumala after his release from jail. He reminded that this important idea came to him during his recent visit to Tirumala. He further said that earlier, when S.M. When Krishna was the Chief Minister, he had formed a Karnataka Trust in Tirupati and entrusted me with the responsibility of it. At that time, our tenure had ended even before we could assume this responsibility. Now, the Chief Minister said, that time has come.
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