New Year Day: Temples, Churches Thronged In AP, TS

The New Year was ushered in amid colorful celebrations and exchanges of greetings on Wednesday night in the twin cities. And thousands of people thronged temples and churches today on the occasion of the New Year Day.

Special prayers were held in churches at midnight on Wednesday to welcome 2016. Special programs were also held this morning, and people wished each other a Happy New Year.

Devotees in large numbers also visited Birla Mandir and other temples and offered prayers. The temples were specially decorated for the occasion. The Saibaba temples at Dilsukhnagar, Chaderghat, Punjagutta and other localities, the Ganesh temple in Secunderabad, Shankar Math in Nallakunta, the Jagannath temple in Banjara Hills, the Peddamma temple in Jubilee Hills, Balaji Bhavan (Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple) at Himayathnagar, and other temples in various localities and colonies were jam-packed with devotees.

The pilgrim centers in both the Telugu States also witnessed huge crowds. Special arrangements were made in the shrines at Tirumala, Srikalahasti, Vijayawada, Vemulawada and Yadagirigutta for the pilgrims to have darshans of Lord Venkateswara, Lord Shiva, Goddess Kanaka Durga, Lord Raja Rajeswara Swamy and Lord Narasimha Swamy respectively. In Srikalahasti, devotees started pouring in at the Vayu Lingeshwara Swamy temple since the early morning for a darshan. In Vijayawada, thousands of devotees visited the temple of Goddess Bhramaramba and Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy atop Indrakeeladri and offered special prayers.