Vijayawada: Festival fever grips city

Vijayawada: The festive fever gripped the State on Sunday to celebrate the Vinayaka Chaturthi on Monday. Lakhs of people across the State thronged the markets to purchase puja material to celebrate the festival in a grand manner.

Pandals have been installed in Vijayawada, Vizag, Tirupati, Guntur, Nellore and other towns and cities and idols are arranged to worship for nine days festival beginning from Monday. The prices of flowers shop up by more than 200 per cent on Sunday as there was a huge demand for them.

In Vijayawada city, thousands of people thronged Kaleswarao Market, Budameru Vantena Junction, Vijay Talkies Junction near Ryves canal, Satyanarayanapuram and other parts of the city to buy the plantain leaves, flowers and fruits. These areas are busy with thousands of buyers purchasing different types of puja materials.

On the other hand, hundreds of idols of Lord Ganesh are arranged in different parts of the city to worship the Elephant-face headed God for nine days beginning from Monday. The organisers have obtained permission from police and fire departments to install the pandals and statues.

Compared to previous years, the number of pandals drastically declined in the city due to economic slowdown. The traders too are reluctant to give huge amount of donations for setting up of pandals and to meet other expenses.

Trading activity has declined in the city in recent months due to economic slowdown. Incidentally, most people preferred to buy small clay idols to check water pollution in Krishna river, where immersion take place every year.