Religious fervour marks ‘Karthika Pournami’

• Devotees take holy dip in Godavari
• Women light traditional lamps in temples
• 500 couples take part in ‘Rudrabhishekam’ at Thousand Pillar temple

Warangal: Grand and colourful celebrations were held across the district marking ‘Karthika Pournami’ on Thursday.

Special programmes were held at Shiva temples. Devotees in large numbers thronged the temples to offer prayers since morning. In the district headquarters, thousands gathered at the historic Thousand Pillar temple.

Prayers started at the temple at 4 am. ‘Panchamruta Abhishekam’ was conducted right from 5 am to 10 pm. About 560 couples participated in the ‘mass Rudrabhishekam’ performed by temple chief priest G Upendra Sharma.

Bhadrachalam: A large number of devotees took a holy dip in the Godavari here on Thursday on ‘Karthika Pournami’. Heavy rush of devotees was seen on the river bank since early morning.

Women released traditional lamps into the river and offered special prayers. Later the proceeded to Subrahmanya Swamy temple, adjacent to the river and lit 365 lamps.

The devotees believe that if they lit lamps on ‘Karthika Pournami’ it would be treated as lighting holy lamps throughout the year and God would shower blessings.

A large number of devotees thronged Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple and worshipped the deity. Temple priests organised “Nadi Harathi” in the evening.

Karimnagar: Devotees took bath in the Godavari and offered prayers at Sri Kaleshwara Mukteswara Temple in Mahadevpur mandal. Women thronged various temples and lit traditional lamps. They took holy dip in the river at Manthani and offered prayers.

Special prayers were offered at Sri Swayambhu Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Temple, Potlapalli, in Husnabad mandal. ‘Tulasi Kalyanam’, ‘Rudrabhishekam’ and ‘Mahalinga Archana’ were performed. Zilla Parishad Vice-Chairman Raji Reddy visited the temple along with family members and performed ‘Abhishekam’. Women lit traditional lamps and offered prayers. As there was heavy rush in the temple, devotees had to wait in long queues to have the Lord’s ‘darshan’.

Adilabad: Heavy rush of devotees was witnessed at Satyanarayana Swamy temple, Gudem, in Dandepally mandal. Earlier, devotees took a holy bath in the Godavari. Women lit lamps on the rive bank.

Devotees visited the temple and performed ‘Abhishekam’, ‘Kumkumarchana’. Devotees from Karimnagar, Warangal and Nizamabad offered prayers. Temple staff made arrangements to prevent any inconvenience to devotees.