Ugadi festivities begin at Durga temple

Vijayawada: Sri Kanaka Durga Malleswara Swami temple authorities celebrated the Telugu New year Ugadi festival in a devotional manner at the temple premises here on Thursday.

The devotees started visiting the temple from early hours. The temple authorities monitored queue lines and made special arrangements for darshan. Some of the devotees took holy dip at Durga ghat in River Krishna.

The police and temple authorities have provided security and special bath arrangements. A The temple priests performed special puja with one lakh jasmine flowers at Bhavani Mandapam. Large number of devotees participated in the puja. The devotees visited the Malleswara Swami temple also.

As a part of Ugadi celebrations, Durga temple authorities conducted the `Panchanga Sravanam' in the temple premises. Temple priests and pundits performed the Panchanga Sravanam. Krishna district In-charge Minister Thota Narasimham, legislators Velampalli Srinivas, Malladi Vishnu Vardhan and Temple Executive Officer Prabhakara Srinivas were also present.

Other temples in the city also witnessed heavy rush on the Telugu new year day. Nagasai Baba temple at Lenin Centre performed special pujas in which large number of devotees participated.

The other Saibaba temples at Ring Road, Satyanarayanapuram, Mogulrajapuram, Labbipet were filled with devotees since early morning. Sri Venkateswara Swami Temples at Labbipet, Punnammathota, Eluru Locks Centre, Kasturibaipet and Ashoknagar also witnessed heavy rush.

Vasantha Navaratri fete

The annual Vasantha Navaratri celebrations began at Durga temple here on Thursday. The traditional Vasantha Navaratri festival begins on Ugadi day and continues for nine days. The deity is worshipped with one lakh jasmine flowers (one lakh) on the first day. The deity is is worshipped with a variety of flower each day during these nine days. The temple witnessed heavy rush on Ugadi day.

The devotees also thronged Siva temples at One Town, Mogulrajapuram and Challapalli bunglow centre. The temple authorities distributed prasadam and free meals to the devotees.