Special pujas and reading of almanac at various temples marked the Ugadi (Telugu New Year) celebrations in the city on Tuesday.
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Special pujas were performed at Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi temple at Burujupeta on the occasion. The idol of the deity was decorated with gold ornaments and ‘pattu vastrams.’ A large number of devotees had darshan all through the day.
‘Panchanga sravanam’ was conducted by Mushti Bhimasankara Sastry, after special puja to Lord Ganesha at 10 a.m. Veda pandit Ch. L.N. Avadhanulu, chief priest K. Srinivasa Sarma and priest P.V.B.S. Acharyulu were felicitated on the occasion.
‘Panchanga sravanam’ was also conducted at Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple near Jagadamba Junction. Executive Officer S.J. Madhavi, Assistant EO V. Rambabu, Deputy EE B. Rambabu and Assistant Engineer K. Suryanarayana Murthy were among those who participated.
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‘Panchanga sravanam’ was conducted at the temple of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam. Temple Trust Board chairperson Sanchayita Gajapathi Raju and EO Suryakala were among those who attended
Head of Sri Sarada Peetham Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswathi has said that Sri Plava Nama Ugadi augurs well for the Chief Ministers of both the Telugu States. He gave a discourse after ‘panchanga sravanam’ at the peetham. Both the Telugu States would not face any financial difficulties and people would derive the benefits of welfare programmes, he said.
Though summer would be severe in both the States, there would be good rains and a bumper harvest, he predicted. COVID-19 would continue till July and following the established protocols like sanitisers, masks and social distancing was the only way to check the spread of the disease. He advised the people of Telangana State to visit the holy temples at Vemulawada, Yadadri and Basara and the people of AP to visit Tirumala, Srisailam, Simhachalam, Bezawada Kanaka Durga temple and Annavaram and invoke the blessings of the deities.
He said that special pujas would be performed at the temple of Sri Raja Syamala at the peetham. He launched the ‘Gantala panchangam’ on the occasion.
Uttara peetadhipathi Sri Swatmanandendra Saraswathi spoke.
Special pujas were performed at Sri Nookambica temple at Anakapalle as part of the Ugadi celebrations held under the auspices of MLA Gudivada Amarnath and YSRCP parliamentary party observer Dadi Ratnakar.
The scarcity of neem flowers, the main ingredient, which goes into the making of Ugadi Pachchadi, the main preparation for Ugadi, at Rythu Bazaars and in the open market left many disappointed.
“The flowers of neem trees in the rural areas of the district became black and withered as never before. The flowers seemed to have been attacked by some pest,” said N. Srinivasa Rao of Sabbavaram, who sells vegetables at Marripalem Rythu Bazaar in the city.