Page:A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas.djvu/162

 a gold shatagopuram (crown) was offered to Viraraghavaswami of Tiruvellore. In 1855 he went on a formal pilgrimage to Conjeeveram to witness the annual festivity of Varadaraja-swami and then made a promise to meet from year to year the expenses of the third day Garuda Vutsavam and Hanumanthuseva of the festival which had to be celebrated in his own name. He also paid a visit to the Siva's temple there and made a present of a garden, his two other gardens and one peta being dedicated to Varadarajaswami. It was in the year 1863 that the Rajah started on his first pilgrimage to Benares. Certain events connected with this pilgrimage such as his visit to Pittapur at the time of the Rajah's installation there and his interview with the Governor of Bengal at Calcutta had already been mentioned in their proper places. The East Coast Railway had not yet been opened. So he started on foot and on his way he halted at Jagannad. In Benares at the time of his