Portals of historic temples in Vemulawada, Bhadrachalam closed hours ahead of Lunar eclipse

The portals of the famous Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple in Vemulawada town of Rajanna Sircilla district were closed at 11.25 a.m. on Sunday, nearly 10 hours before the commencement of the total lunar eclipse slated to occur on the intervening night of September 7 and 8.

The temple doors will be reopened at 3.45 a.m. on Monday (September 8) for purification rituals such as ‘Samprokshana’.

Devotees will be allowed to have darshan of the temple deity as per the daily schedule later on, temple sources said.

The doors of other subsidiary temples in the temple town were also closed at around the same time.

In Bhadradri Kothagudem district, the historic Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam was closed at 1 p.m. on Sunday in view of the astronomical event.

The doors of the temple will be reopened at 3 a.m. on Monday to perform Shuddi, Samprokshana and other purification rituals.

After the performance of Suprabhatam, Aaradhana, Seva Kalam and Nivedana and other pre-dawn rituals, devotees will be allowed for darshan at around 7.30 a.m.