Welcome showers greet devotees ahead of Garuda Seva in Tirupati on Sept. 19

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A view of the rainbow that appeared over the Garuda statue at Alipiri, the foot of Tirumala hills, on Friday evening (September 18, 2026), after a sudden downpour lashed the city of Tirupati. | Photo Credit: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar

Even as thousands of devotees have converged at the temple city of Tirupati ahead of ‘Garuda Seva’ to be performed on Saturday (September 19, 2026) as part of the ongoing annual Salakatla Brahmotsavams at Tirumala, a sudden downpour brought down the temperature, providing the much-needed succour.

The day was hot and sunny till the afternoon, while a thick blanket of clouds enveloped the city as well as the Tirumala hills in the evening, leading a sudden and incessant downpour.

The pilgrim crowd that reached the Tirupati railway station and the APSRTC central bus station ahead of trekking the hills to watch the celestial spectacle on Saturday (September 19, 2026), thoroughly drenched in the rain.

The hill town however did not witness any rain and hence there was no disturbance reported to the procession of deities around the temple.

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