On the penultimate day of Srivari Brahmotsavam-2010, on
the eighth day, the Malayapaswami is seated on a high pedestal throne and is
taken on a procession around the four- mada streets on a wooden chariot which
is over 35- feet tall.
The Rathotsavam festival is a highly emotional event
known for the flow of bhakti sangeet, keertans, bhajans and full pitched
rendering by the devotees who accompany the procession of the deity. The
Rathotsavam of Tirumala is ignificant for its salient features. It is dragged
by devotees and temple staff with the help of secure four inch thick jute ropes
all along the thiru mada streets surrounding the temple shrine. The Rathotsavam
has a special spiritual message embedded in the Kathopanishad which compared it
to blending of the soul with the body.
The saint poet Annamacharya says that divine being that
was an embodiment of all living things, was thus dragging his own chariot.