DALLAS, TX: It was a day when the gods would want to come down to earth, especially in Dallas, to witness the wedding of Sri Venkateswara being organized by tens of thousands devotees. Used to seeing the wedding at Tirumala, it turned out to be a welcome change for them! The venue was Dallas metroplex.
A modest 10,000 devotees thronged the venue Dr Pepper Center in Frisco. The beautiful sunrise in the east of the town welcomed the devotees with warmth and compassion. The divine serenity and the blissful smile of the Lord opened the doors at 7 am in the morning. A unique and an once-in-a-lifetime experience was in the offing with not one, not two, but four major events happening simultaneously – Suprabhata Seva, Vasanthotsavam, Archana and His Kalyanam.
Seldom do devotees get a chance to watch such events back-to-back at Tirumala. But the Lord who is always a giver didn’t let this opportunity go amiss for the welfare of the devotees. The volunteers had worked round the clock for the last 30 days by then, and it was the Kalyanam day.
The Suprabhata Seva started at 8 am. The archakas hymned the Suprabhatam invoking the Lord. The curtains were open and the devotees witnessed an eternal bliss at the sight of the goddesses and the god. Later Vasanthotsavam and Archana were performed for the deities and the holy Tulasi water was sprinkled to the visiting devotees.
The Kalyana Mahotsavam began soon and the whole center was reverberating with chanting of Govinda Nama, Annamayya Keertanas and the musical entourage from TTD.
The devotees engrossed themselves in the chanting and a divine fervor was clearly visible. Couples sponsoring Kalyanam were performing with utmost devotion. Elaborate arrangements by over 300 volunteers were made by the organizers such as seating, food, beverages, registration, Kalyanam donors, hospitality, Darsanam, decoration etc.
Speaking at the occasion TTD Chairman thanked the devotees and felt happy for organizing Kalyanam in Dallas.
Dallas metroplex Mayor Maher Maso read the proclamation at the event as July 12 will be henceforth called “Srinivas Kalyanam Day”. JEO Pola Bhaskar I.A.S, TTD Board member A.V.Ramana, event organizer Gopal Ponangi also addressed the crowd explaining the importance behind Sri Srinivasa Kalyana Mahotsavam and the welfare for mankind behind such events.
The core committee members who worked round the clock to make the event memorable were Satyanarayana Pulipaka, Gopal Ponangi, Ravi Akula, Vijay Todupunoori, R.K. Panditi, Srinivas Kongara, Shyama Rumalla, Venkat Narpala, Rao Kalvala, Mahesh Adibhatla, KC Chekuri, Ranga Rao, Srinivas Pamidimukkala, Sreekanth Konda, Mahesh Choppa, Kiran Chelamalla, Uma Mahesh, Madan Bijili, Chandra K. Bandar, Ravi Pattisam among others.
Leaders such as Aravinda Rao Ex. DGP, Prasad Thotakura, Dr Sridhar Reddy Korsapati, Dr Raghavendra Prasad, Prakashrao Velagapudi, TANA Executive VP Satish Vemana among others were witnessed and participated in the event.
Prasad Thotukara
