Tirupati, March 3 – The doors of the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple atop Tirumala near here, along with all major temples in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, were closed on Tuesday due to the lunar eclipse.
The priests closed the temple doors after performing rituals. They will be reopened after the eclipse ends and after performing purification rituals.
The lunar eclipse will begin at 3:20 p.m. and end at 6:47 p.m. on Tuesday. According to tradition, the doors of the Tirumala temple were closed six hours before the beginning of the eclipse.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the famous hill shrine, said that the temple doors will reopen at 7:30 p.m., after performing purification rituals (Suddhi), Punyahavachanam, and other prescribed religious procedures.
Darshan for devotees will resume from 8:30 p.m. onwards.
The temple authorities have cancelled Arjitha Sevas and VIP Break Darshans for the day.
Other temples managed by TTD in Tirupati and surrounding areas have also been closed.
At Tiruchanoor, the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, Sri Suryanarayana Swamy Temple, and Sri Srinivasa Temple were closed due to the lunar eclipse.
Other major temples in both the Telugu states were also closed due to the lunar eclipse.
The Mallikarjuna Temple in Srisailam, the Kodandarama Temple at Vontimitta, the Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Temple in Bhadrachalam, the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Yadadri, and the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple at Simhachalam were also closed.
In Vijayawada, the doors of the Kanaka Durga Temple on the Indrakeeladri Hills, along with the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy temple, were closed by the temple board officials due to the partial lunar eclipse.
It is common for temples to close their doors during solar and lunar eclipses. The authorities cancel darshan and all sevas and reopen the temples in the evening after purification.
The Sri Suryanarayana Swami Temple, also known as the Sun Temple at Arasavalli in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, was also closed due to the lunar eclipse.
The Saraswati temple at Basar and the Sri Raja Rajeswari temple at Vemulawada were also closed.
