People Throng Temples, Churches On New Year Eve

Thousands of people thronged temples and churches in the twin cities today on the occasion of New Year Day.

The New Year was ushered in with colourful celebrations and exchanges of greetings since Friday night. Special prayers were held in the churches at midnight to welcome the New Year, and special programs were conducted this morning.

The pilgrim centres in both the Telugu states witnessed huge crowds. Special arrangements were made at the shrines in Tirumala, Srikalahasti, Vijayawada, Vemulawada and Yadagirigutta for the pilgrims to have darshans of Lord Venkateshwara, Lord Shiva, Goddess Kanaka Durga, Lord Raja Rajeswara Swamy and Lord Narasimha Swamy respectively. In Vijayawada, hundreds of devotees visited the temple of Goddess Bhramarambha and Sri Mallikharjuna Swamy atop the Indrakeeladri and offered special prayers.

In the twin cities, devotees in large numbers visited Birla Mandir and other temples. The temples were specially decorated for the occasion. The Sai Baba temples in Dilsukhnagar, Chaderghat, Punjagutta and other localities, the Ganesh temple in Secunderabad, the Shankar Math at Nallakunta, the temples in Film Nagar, the Jagannath temple in Banjara Hills, the Peddamma temple in Jubilee Hills, the Chilkur Balaji temple, the Balkampet Yellamma temple, the Balaji Bhavan (Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple) at Himayath Nagar, and temples in various localities and colonies were jam-packed with devotees.