Tirumala, August 22, 2013: The ongoing struggle for a united State in the Seemandhra region for the past three weeks has not only had its adverse effect on the revenue of the hill temple but also on several pilgrim activities.

The sacred temple town of Lord Venkateswara, which normally echoes with wedding bells during the month of Sravana masam, is swathed in unrelenting agitations.

The people of the State consider Sravana masam – a very propitious epoch for marriages and other such events. And it is with this sentiment that people from different parts of the country come to tie the wedding knot atop the divine abode of Lord Venkateswara.

The town, which generally registers over 4,000 marriages during the month, has witnessed a huge drop in the number of couples this season.

The TTDs purohit sangham, which proudly boasts of performing hundreds of marriages on each auspicious muhurtham in a single day during the month, has registered only a couple of hundreds of marriages so far.

Things remain the same even at the private kalyana mandapams, which wore an isolated look.

“We used to perform over a dozen marriages in a single day during the days of the auspicious month at various kalyanan mandapams,” reminiscences a purohit.

Even those devotees who reached the town daring all adversities were nevertheless inconvenienced with prices of decorating the mandapam, purchase and transportation of provisions and other wedding related articles having soared.

Says a manager of a private establishment, “Even though we actually had a booking for over eighteen marriages during the present month, only two events have been conducted so far with matrimonial parties either preferring the postponement of the wedding date or getting it performed at their native places.”

Source: The Hindu, August 22, 2013