Hyderabad: Thousands of people thronged temples and churches in the twin cities today on the occasion of New Year Day. The New Year ushered in amidst colorful celebrations and exchange of greetings since Monday night. Special prayers were held in the churches at midnight to welcome the New Year. Special programs were conducted this morning and the people wished each other with ‘Happy New Year’.
The pilgrim centers in both Telugu States witnessed huge crowds. Special arrangements were made in the shrines like Tirumala, Srikalahasti, Vijayawada, Vemulawada and Yadagirigutta for the pilgrims to have darshan of Lord Venkateswara, Goddess Kanaka Durga, Raja Rajeswara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy respectively. In Srikalahasti, devotees started pouring at the Vayu Lingeshwara Swamy since early morning for darshan. In Vijayawada, hundreds of devotees visited the temple of Bramaramba and Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy atop Indrakeeladri and offered special prayers.
In the twin cities, devotees in large numbers visited Birla Mandir and other temples and offered prayers. The temples were specially decorated for the occasion. Saibaba temples at Dilsukhnagar, Chaderghat, Punjagutta and other localities, Ganesh temple in Secunderabad, Shankar Mutt at Nallakunta, the temples in Filmnagar, Jagannath temple in Banjara Hills, Peddamma temple in Jubilee Hills, Chilkur Balaji Temple, Balaji Bhavan (Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple) at Himayathnagar and temples in various localities and colonies were jam-packed with devotees.
A few lakh devotees visited Balkampet Yellamma temple and offered special pujas. Normally, Tuesdays are considered auspicious to visit Balkampet Yellamma temple. Today being Tuesday as well as New Year, the rush to the temple has doubled. It is the firm belief of the devotees that their prayers to the deity will never go unanswered. They believe that their lives will be blessed in the coming year, the chief priest said. (NSS)