Vasanthotsavam is an annual Seva celebrated in

Tirumala Tirumala is a spiritual town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the suburbs of the Tirupati urban agglomeration. The town is a part of Tirupati Urban Development Authority and located in Tirupati (rural ...

to celebrate the arrival of spring season. Vasantotsavam is the combination of 2 words - "Vasantha" (Spring season in Sanskrit) and "Utsavam" (festival in Sanskrit). The festival is celebrated on the three days of ''tryodasi'', ''chaturdasi'' and ''pournami'' in the month of

Chaitra Chaitra (Hindi: चैत्र) is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Cho ...

In the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years di ...

, the festival occurs between the end of March through mid-April.

History & start

The start of the festival celebration in Tirumala is recorded during the period of Achyutaraya (

Saka The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

1460). The festival was started with the fund of 3000 narpanam contributed by Periya Solai, the son of the

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...

in the temple.

Function

The festival starts with ''ankurarpanam'' (sowing the nine kind of seeds) ceremony conducted on the day of Uttarabhadra star in

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a ...

month of phalguna. One day before the start of the Vasanthotsavam festival, ''punya vachanam'' (purificatory rites), ' (worship of deity and lord of nature and their elements and natural forces as well as lord and deity of directions and environment) and ''samprokshanam'' rituals are performed by the temple priests(sacred consecration). Access to these rituals are not open to public. ''Abhishekam'' - specifically called ''Snapana Thirumanjanam'' (Holy bathing), is performed to the ''utsava murthy'' and his consorts on all the three days in the Vasanthotsavam hall outside the temple premises. On the third day, abhishekam is performed to the idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman along with Krishna and Rukmini.Procession of the consecrated idols are taken in a procession in the evening on all the three days. The Vasanthotsavam hall was demolished as part of the revamping of the temple surroundings in 2006 and since then the Vaibhavotsava Mandapam situated in front of the main temple is used for the festival. Image:Malayappa in Vasanthotsavam.jpg, Lord

Venkateswara Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Etymology Venkatesw ...

with

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Femal ...

and

Bhudevi Bhumi ( sa, भूमि, Bhūmi), also known as Bhudevi and Vasundhara, is a Hindu goddess who is the personification of the Earth. She is a consort of the god Vishnu. According to Vaishnava tradition, she is the second aspect of Vishnu's cons ...

Image:Krishna in Tirumala.jpg,

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

with his consort

Rukmini devi Rukmini Devi Arundale (née Shastri; 29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986)Sharma, Shoba and Gangadean, Ashok (January 31, 2004 Naatya.org. Retrieved on 10 December 2018. was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian cl ...

Image:Rama in Tirumala.jpg,

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

with his brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

and wife

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, '' Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi ...

Image:Vasanthotsavam Procession.jpg, Procession of idols through the four ''Mada'' streets Image:Vasanthotsavam in front of Tirumala Temple.jpg, Procession in front of the main entrance of the temple

Pilgrim participation

Vasonthotsavam is a ''arjitha seva'' - paid service where pilgrims pay to view the ceremony. Each ticket costs Rs 300 ( $7) and allows 1 person. Apart from entry to the abhishekam hall, the ticket holder receives one

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

''angavastram'' for men, a blouse piece for the women, 2

dosas A dosa, also called dosai, dosey, or dosha, is a thin pancake in South Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground black lentils and rice. Dosas are popular in South Asia as well as around the world. Dosas are served hot, often with ...

, 1 vadas and temple ''annaprasadams'' (rice based blessed food).

References

----{{Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Tirumala festivals Spring festivals