Thousands throng temples on Karthika Pournami

HYDERABAD: ‘Karthika pournami’, the traditional festival celebrated during the full moon day of the holy month of Karthika, drew thousands of devotees to various temples across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The festival was celebrated on Thursday with religious fervor and gaiety across the two states.
Devotees thronged in large numbers to offer prayers at Shiva and Vishnu temples.At all the major temples in Andhra Pradesh including Srikalahasti and Srisailam, the devotees had to wait for more than four hours for darshan. Lakhs took holy dip in Suryalanka beach near Bapatla. All river banks of Krishna and Godavari reverberated with the chants of ‘Siva Namam'. Vendors of coconuts and other puja material had a field day.
TTD launched Managudi programme across 53,000 temples in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Tens of thousands took part in the Tulsi pooja apart from Karthika Deepotsavam.
In Telangana, people formed serpentine queues to offer prayers to Lord Shiva in Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy in Vemulawada, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy devasthanams in Dharmapuri, Sri Kalahastheeswara Swamy devasthanams in Kaleshwaram in Karimnagar district and Narasimhaswamy temple in Yadagarigutta.