Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) will perform a five-day mega ritual for the well-being of Telangana as well as India at his farmhouse in Erraballi village of Medak district from 23 December. KCR has invited President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the “Ayuta Maha Chandi Yagam”.
A strong believer in rituals and pujas, KCR periodically performs Vedic homams for the fulfilment of his wishes. He held a massive homam three years ago for the formation of Telangana state.
KCR, who called on the President in New Delhi on Wednesday, extended the invitation and explained to him the importance of the Vedic ritual. The President, who assured him that he would consider the invitation, is likely to make it as he is expected to be in Hyderabad during the time as part of his southern sojourn.
KCR also invited the PM to attend the yagam when he called on him along with a few other Chief Ministers for submitting a report commissioned by the Niti Aayog in Delhi on Tuesday. Modi, too, has agreed to consider it, according to A.P. Jitender Reddy, a Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader in the Lok Sabha, who was with KCR at the time. However, sources close to KCR told The Sunday Guardian that the Chief Minister would be meeting the PM again on Thursday to present to him a detailed invite for the ritual. “On Tuesday, the CM only informed the PM about the yagam, but a detailed invitation would be extended to him on Thursday,” a senior TRS leader said.
Apart from the President and the PM, KCR would also be inviting a host of VVIPs to the yagam. The list of guests might include the Chief Justice of India, other judges of the Supreme Court and the Governors and Chief Ministers of many states, sources said. The “Ayuta Maha Chandi Yagam” will be an elaborate exercise as prescribed by the scriptures and it will be conducted by around 1,000 priests from Kerala. The Namboodri Brahmins, who are experts in this yagam, will decide the nitty-gritty of the event. Though none is ready to speak about the cost of the yagam, sources put it at around Rs 10 crore.
KCR got the idea of holding the yagam after he went to the foundation stone laying ceremony of Amaravati, capital of Andhra Pradesh on 22 October. He was impressed with the elaborate homam in which PM Modi and a galaxy of dignitaries also joined, offering ghee and sticks.
The homam was considered to be auspicious for the new capital city.
“For long, KCR was thinking of holding a yagam for the peace and development of Telangana and the country. He held a smaller yagam at his new Camp Office in Begumpet immediately after becoming the CM last year; a bigger yagam was always on his mind. Moreover, the Chief Minister had vowed to hold a yagam when a separate state became a reality,” a source close to KCR said. The yagam will also provide an opportunity to KCR to play host to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Given the goodwill Naidu earned in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by inviting KCR to the Amaravati function, the latter wants to return the courtesy. After inviting Modi on Thursday, KCR will go to Governor Narasimhan and Naidu with invites, sources said.
As KCR’s farmhouse is about 80km from Hyderabad, it would be convenient to make security arrangements for a large number of VVIPs at the yagam site.