Temple Darshan, Pooja and Sevas Information Infoirmation Website Tirumala, 21 Dec: Vaikunta Ekadasi Swarna Ratham
Lord Malayappa Swamy flanked by His two consorts took a celestial ride Swarna Ratham in the bright sunny day on Monday in Tirumala.
Meanwhile, Lord traversed through the four mada streets seated majestically on the golden “Devasana Peetham” on the 30-feet mighty golden chariot.
The Golden Chariot which is otherwise called “Swarna Ratham“
It is believed that those who will have darshan of Lord in the sanctum as well on the chariot will get the merit of having witnessed three crore ekadasis and hence it is also called Mukkoti Ekadasi.
Tens of thousands of women devotees lined up to catch the rope tied to the mighty chariot and pulled the ratham chanting the divine names of God with aplomb.
The Padma Purana says that Lord Vishnu emerged on this auspicious day in the holy month of Dhanurmasa. It is one of the most important fetes in all the Sri Vaishnavaite temples, especially in South India. The devotees will have the Vaikuntha Dwara darshan which is unique for this occasion. The succeeding day is also considered to be auspicious and is known on Vaikuntha Dwadasi.
