The Golden Chariot, built at a cost of Rs 9.75 crore, was inaugurated on Wednesday at the temple of Lord Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Swamy at Kanipakam, 11 km from here.
Sharada Peetham Chief Priest Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswathi, Mutt’s successor Sri Swatmanandendra Saraswathi, Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivas, Kanipakam temple officials and Puthalapattu MLA MS Babu participated in the opening ceremony.
The priest of Saradha Peetham expressed happiness on the occasion and said that the procession of the Golden Chariot will begin at Kanipakam temple on the lines of Tirumala temple.
Kanipakam Devasthanam proposed the construction of a wooden chariot for the temple in 2005, and the temple’s trust board later decided to make the wooden structure a gold plate and for this a hundi was arranged in the temple premises. The golden chariot was built with expert craftsmen under the guidance of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), with donations from devotees and hundi collections.
The work which started in December 2020 was completed in September 2021.
Later, the newly-launched golden chariot carrying the procession deity was carried in a procession through the four Mada streets of the Kanipakam temple.
A large number of devotees and locals thronged the temple town to catch a glimpse of the event.
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