Special Correspondent adds: The celestial wedding of Lord Rama with his consort Seetha was held with a difference at Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Devasthanam in Vemulawada on Friday.
Even as the temple priests performed the celestial wedding of Lord Rama and Seetha, thousands of devotees, including women, donning the role of ‘Parvathulu’ (brides of Lord Shiva) married Lord Shiva on the occasion by sprinkling ‘thalambralu’ on the presiding deities at the shrine.
The tradition of marrying Lord Shiva has been in practice only at Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Devasthanam in Vemulawada since ages. The devotees arrive a day in advance and offer prayers to Lord Shiva.
On Sri Rama Navami day, they dress up as brides with ‘jeera’ and jaggery paste on their head and decorated ‘trishul’ in their hands. They also wear dharana ‘rudraksha’ on their neck and carry ‘jola’ (bag) containing ‘thalambralu’ and participate in the celestial wedding of Lord Sri Rama. As soon as the ritual comes to an end, they sprinkle ‘thalambralu’ on the deities and declare themselves as married to Lord Shiva. Later, some of them proceed towards Baddi Pochamma temple and pray by offering ‘bonalu’.
Another interesting ritual during the celestial wedding is that the transgenders marry Lord Shiva. They arrive in large numbers from various parts of the region to participate in the celestial wedding. Arrangements made for the devotees were inadequate and they struggled hard to get water to quench their thirst. The entire Vemulawada temple shrine was packed with people on the occasion.
