Bhadrachalam gears up for celestial wedding on April 6

Grand arrangements are underway for the celestial wedding of Lord Rama and Sita at the Ramalayam in Bhadrachalam on April 6.

- SIDDHARDHA GATTIMI @Hyderabad

For the past nine years, 50-year-old micro-artist Chaluvadi Malli Vishnu Vandana has turned her devotion into an intricate art form, inscribing the name of Lord Rama on rice grains and offering them as talambaras to temples on Rama Navami.

This year, Vandana, a resident of Chandanagar in Hyderabad, meticulously wrote the name of Lord Rama on 1.75 lakh rice grains and distributed them to around 60 temples across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Speaking to TNIE, Vandana reveals the labour-intensive process behind her devotion. "It takes me about an hour to inscribe over 100 grains. With the unwavering support of my husband, Narasimharao, I dedicate 10 hours a day to this practice," she says.