Prisoners perform Satyanarayana puja

VISAKHAPATNAM: Hundreds of prisoners and staff of Central Jai here have performed mass Sri Satyanarayana Swamy vrathams on Monday. All prisoners paid their homage and offered prayers to Sri Satyanarayana Swamy. The jail authorities had accepted in principal to allow the convicts to perform the vratham so that there could be a change in their mind set.The Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy temple authorities had arranged puja material, the priest, his assistants and prasadam free of cost. The Satyanarayana swamy temple’s priest had also brought the idols of Sri Satyanarayana on Satya Radham, from Annavaram to the prison. Lord Satyanarayana is worshipped by Hindus in their homes along with family and friends. The worship is performed usually on a full moon (purnima) day of the month. People worship the Lord by reciting gracious story of the Lord and anecdotes connected with miraculous happennings in the lives of devotees. The Lord’s grace is described in the Skanda Purana.Executive officer of Sri Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam, K Ramachandra Mohan told Express, that the devasthanam is performing Sri Satyanarayana Swamy vratham every month at Rajahmundry central jail to change the mind set of the prisoners and make them better human beings. The temple authorities had contacted the jail authorities with the plan to help prisoners perform the vratham and attend the puja. The jail authorities had given permission to conduct the mass vratham with prisoners. The temple authorities hope that every month the Satyanarayana vratham and puja would be performed successfully with the cooperation of jail authorities.The Satya Radham which was arranged by the temple has been moving in the villages for the benefit of the devotees, who cannot reach Annavaram and perform the puja. The Satya Radham (chariot) would move through the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Atchuthapuram, Yellamanchili, Pudimadaka, Upmaka and Appikonda villages starting from Monday and will go on till May 28. The Satya Radham was supposed to travel through the agency areas, but due to some ‘unforseen’ circumstances, the programme has been cancelled. Jail superintendent KS Fazul Haq was monitoring the whole event.