Story of lock of golden door being broken when President Maithripala went to worship Thirupathi in India before entering sanctum sanctorium

Story of lock of golden door being broken when President Maithripala went to worship Thirupathi in India before entering sanctum sanctorium   

Many international media including India had reported that President Maithripala Sirisena had

been to worship the most distinguished Thirupathi Kovil during his sojourn in India.  The mishap which took place when he was preparing to participate in a darshan at Thirupathi or 'Thirumala Shri Venkateshwara Kovil' was reported in The Times of India, an outstanding newspaper in India in the following manner.

The incident had taken place last 18th Wednesday at about 2.15 early morning. It is at that time that priests of Thirupathi had come to open the golden door known as Bangaru Wakili. This is the last door which is used to enter the sanctorium where Lord Venkateshwara resides. This first daily darshan which is conducted for the Lord is known as Suprabhathma Seva. Its objective happens to be that the Lord is to be awakened in the traditional manner. This darshan is conducted as early as 3 in the morning every day and the priests arrive there 45 minutes before that. That is for the purpose of opening the sanctum and to clean the place.There are three keys specially prepared to open the golden gate and all three keys should be inserted into the locks at the same time. That procedure is the time-honoured tradition of that kovil. What happened last Wednesday was that the first key that was inserted had got stuck inside the lock. It was not possible to remove it and in the end the authorities were compelled to open the door after breaking the lock. President Maithripala and his wife were already present in front of the door by then in order to attend the Suprabhathma Darshan. No sooner the key got stuck in the lock, authorities of the kovil got into immediate action and sawed the lock and provided the opportunity to conduct the Suprabhathma Darshan. Chinnamgiri Ramani the Deputy Executive Officer there told the media that this lock functioned well even the previous day when the Ekantha Service, the last one performed daily at midnight for the Lord was conducted. However, this lock had malfunctioned in the morning for some reason, he remarked. What authorities of the kovil say is that these locks are specially prepared and that this was the first occasion that such a thing has taken place. "We shall see that such a blemish is not repeated," Ramana said further. 

It was the opinion of the devotees that a special darshan should be conducted on behalf of the Lord because of this incident. But the kovil authorities remarked that such a thing is not warranted. Though certain people remarked that the Suprabhathma Darshan was delayed, Ramani emphasised that no such obstacle at all took place. He says that such things are said by blind believers only. Apart from The Times of India newspaper, India Today and The Hindu newspapers too had reported this incident.

(Niranjan Chaminda Karunathillaka)