For the first time, the processional idols of Lord Venkateswara and his consorts descended the seven hills to take part in the festivities of his ardent devotee, Annamayya, in his native village.
Tallapaka is located 100 km away from Tirupati at Rajampeta mandal in Kadapa district.
A festive atmosphere prevailed in several villages en route to Tallapaka too. Villagers decorated the roads with leaves and plantain trees to welcome the Lord who was trav eling to Tallapaka.
Bhajan mandals took out a procession from Rajampeta to Tallapaka with the Lord of the seven hills in the lead. Caparisoned elephants and horses were part of the procession.
Despite the sweltering heat, majority of the members of the bha jan mandals walked without slippers as a sign of their reverence for the Lord.
Apart from the heads of various mutts, renowned musicians and artistes including Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan, P.B. Srinivas, Padmasri Yella Venkateswara Rao, Dwaram Lakshmi, Padma Subrahmanyam and Chitti Babu attended the celebrations. Classical singers, Dr Shobha Raju, Jyothirmayee Chowdhary, G. Balakrishna Prasad, Dr Seshu Latha, Hyderabad sisters, and hundreds of others were also present. The film director, Mr K.Raghavendra Rao, who portrayed the saint poet in celluloid, joined the celebrations along with other film personalities, Manju Bhargavi and Kanchana.
The singers rendered Annamayya’s sapthagiri samkeerthanalu beginning with Bhavamulona Bhagyamunanduna and also presented his popular numbers.