People throng temples ushering in New Year

Hyderabad/Vijayawada: People of the two Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana thronged temples to seek divine blessings on Monday to mark the beginning of 2018.Temples in Andhra Pradesh largely followed the direction of the authorities not to decorate the temples as celebrating New Year is not part of Indian ‘Vedic culture'.

Thousands queued up at the famous Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala on the first day of New Year. The Kanaka Durga temple (Vijayawada) and Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy temple (Srisailam) also witnessed huge rush. Men, women and children lined up since early morning at temples in Chittoor, Kurnool, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and other places.

Yadadri, Vemulawada and other major temples in Telangana also witnessed huge throng of devotees. The priests conducted special prayers on the occasion to bless the devotees. A group of priests from Tirumala temple blessed AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on New Year at his residence in Vijayawada. Chanting Vedic hymns, the priests prayed for his well being and success in 2018.
Naidu's Cabinet colleagues, leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and officials met Naidu and greeted him.

In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan and his wife Vimala Narasimhan received greetings from people at Raj Bhavan. Senior officials, prominent citizens, students and people from various walks of life met the couple and conveyed New Year greetings.Prominent personalities and senior civil and police officials met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and conveyed their wishes.