Kalyana Venkateswara, in His marital attire, symbolically rode the Sun and the Moon, on the seventh day of the annual Brahmotsavams at the TTD-run Srinivasa Mangapuram temple here on Friday.
The bejeweled deity was taken out in a colourful procession on ‘Surya Prabha Vahanam’, with a dazzling golden halo behind the deity. The event took place early in the day so as to let the deity feel the warmth of the rays. In the evening, the idol was carried on ‘Chandra Prabha Vahanam’ with a silver halo behind the deity.
It has been a practice in temples to conduct Surya Prabha Vahanam around dawn to allow the soothing rays to fall on the deity and Chandra Prabha Vahanm late in the evening to let the moon’s white rays fall on the dazzling carrier. The processions are meant to represent the supremacy of the Lord Maha Vishnu over the elements of nature as well as the celestial bodies, which symbolically pay obeisance to the Almighty during the procession.