With the New Year and Vaikunta Ekadasi coinciding on Thursday, celebrations hit a new high. All the temples, especially Sri Rama and Sri Venkateswara Swamy temples, which were decked up for the occasion, teemed with devotees till late in the evening.
Streets reverberated with chantings of “Om Namo Narayana” as many temple trust managements organised bhajans and special programmes as part of the celebrations.
In Nellore, amid elaborate arrangements, the Vykunta Dwara Darsanam utsavam was held at the Sri Ranganadha Swamy Temple located at Ranganayakulapeta. A large number of devotees in and around the city arrived at the temple to have the much-awaited darsanam of the lord.
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The priests conducted the utsav with Ranganadha Swamy featuring in the darsanam along with his consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi at the Vykunta Dwaram to the devotees. Serpentine queue lines were witnessed outside the temple premises with the devotees waiting for darshan since Wednesday night.
In Srikakulam, hundreds of devotees participated in special prayers and pujas held in several temples in the district on the occasion of Mukkoti Ekadasi. Sri Suryanarayna Swamy temple at Arasavilli, Sri Kurmam, Sri Venkateswara Temple of PN Colony Shiva Balaji temple in Banker’s Colony, Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy temple on the banks of Nagavali River wore festive look with the special decoration with flowers.
The devotees are allowed through 'North Gate' as Uttara Dwara Darshan would provide them divine's blessing on the eve of Mukkoti Ekadasi. A procession with the idols of Usha, Padmini and Lord Suryanarayana was taken out in the early hours. Kalyanam was also performed on the auspicious occasion.
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Temple managements of Shiva Balaji temple and Kalayana Venakteswara Temples made special arrangements for the devotees who thronged the temple to have Uttaradwara darshanam. Sri Vijaya Ganapati temple priests Penta Sridhar Sarma, P.Surya Nagesh Sarma offered 5,005 laddus as special prasadam to the Lord on the auspicious occasion.
In Kurnool, the five-day festival of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) got off to a colourful start here on Thursday. The priests performed rituals in connection with Vaikunta Ekadasai and allowed the devotees to have darsan from northern gate, which is considered auspicious.
The chariot festival will be organised on January 4 with volunteers expected to flock to the place from different corners of the South India. The sprawling Municipal Ground was decorated with Puri replica, flags and tents. Devotees wearing ISKCON sandal marks on the forehead were special attraction.