Vijayawada: Braving the early morning chill, thousands of women and children thronged the bathing ghats at the River Krishna, to take a holy dip on the occasion of the auspicious ‘Kartika Pourn-ami’ on Sunday.
A large number of devotees were also seen queuing up at Shivalayams across the city to mark the ‘Kartika Pournami’. The Durga ghat near Indrakeeladri witnessed a huge rush of devotees from the early hours of the day. Officials had made elaborate arrangements to ensure the devotees’ safety and avoid rush at the ghats.
The devotees also bathed at the showers arranged at the ghats. The rush at the ghats continued till 8 am and till noon at old Shivalayam, Vijayeswara Swamy temple near Durga ghat, Shivalayam in I-Town and other temples across the city.
Priests of the Kankadurga temple offered Pancha Harathi to River Krishna in the evening for over an hour as part of the Kartika Pournami celebrations.
Meanwhile at Machilipatnam, devotees thronged Manginapudi, Hamsaladeevi and Peddago-llapalem beaches to take a holy dip in the Bay of Bengal. Revenue and police officials had made elaborate arrangements for the devotees.
Devotees started for the Manginapudi beach right from the wee hours of Sunday, after darshan of Panduragaswamy in Machilipatnam.
According to reports, over one lakh devotees took the holy dip in the sea. The RTC provided special services for devotees from various districts of the state.
Meanwhile, religious fervour marked Kartika Pournami celebration in Bhadrachalam, with a large number of devotees, including from Chhattisgarh and Odisha, turning up at the Rama temple to offer prayers after a holy dip in the river Godavari.
As part of Nadi Harati programme, the temple authorities took out a procession of the presiding deities Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana from the temple to River Godavari.
