Christmas Celebrated With Gaiety In AP, Telangana

Christmas was celebrated today on a grand scale in both the Telugu-speaking states. Prayers which began on the midnight of Sunday lasted through the day, and various churches across the state, especially the historic churches in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, saw massive turnouts. Pastors across the states delivered special Christmas messages to the faithful.

Notable amongst them was the Medak CSI Church, renowned for being the second largest church in Asia, which held a resplendent service that counted amongst its participants devotees from across the country.

Special prayers were offered across Andhra Pradesh, too. The century-old historic St Louis Marks Lutheran Church of Chirala especially stood out for the pomp and show.

YSR Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the AP Assembly Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, accompanied by his family members, participated in the Christmas celebrations at the CSI Church in Pulivendula in Kadapa district. Senior bishops and priests conducted a special mass and read out the Christmas message.

Governor E S L Narasimhan, and Chief Ministers K Chandrashekar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu extended their greetings to the people, as did Jaganmohan Reddy.

Meanwhile, the 351st birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last Sikh Guru, and the founder of the Khalsa Panth, too, was celebrated with much devotion by Sikhs in the state. Thousands of devotees offered prayers to the Guru Granth Saheb. The celebrations were organized under the aegis of the Prabhandak Committee of the Central Gurdwara Saheb Gowliguda, with a mass congregation held at Nizam College Grounds, Basheerbagh. A community lunch for the devotees followed.