The temples of the two Telugu states were filled with devotees on Saturday on the occasion of Karthika Pournami.
People stood in queues since early in the morning after having baths, to offer special abhishekams to Lord Siva. The temples were all glittering with the lamps lit by the devotees for the deepotsavam.
As Pournami entered on Friday afternoon and lasted till Saturday afternoon, the devotees observed Karthika Pournami for two days, but most of the special poojas, abhishekams and archanas happened on Saturday.
All the major Siva temples in the Telugu states saw exuberance. The archakas performed a special pooja for Jwala Thoranotsavam at Gangadhara Mandapam in front of the Srisailam temple's gopuram. The Mahanandi temple was resplendent with the Karthika Sobha on Saturday. People thronged the Siva temples in West Godavari and performed special poojas after having holy bath in Godavari River. Special prayers were offered in the Nidadavolu Chinnakasi Revu and the Srirameswara temple in Aachanta.
Visitors also thronged the Siva temples in Hyderabad, Basara, Vemulawada, Edupayala, Keesara, Yadagirigutta and other places in Telangana.
Hindus believe that the whole month of Karthika in general is holy, and that the day of Karthika Pournami (the full moon day of the month) is especially auspicious. They believe Karthika to be the favourite month of Siva.