Devotees soak in Ugadi festive spirit

Hyderabad: The Sobhakrut Nama Samvatsara Ugadi this year was celebrated with fervour and devotees thronged all the temple shrines in various parts of the city right from 4 am on Wednesday.

Devotees decorated their homes with mango and neem leaves apart from a variety of flowers and prepared traditional dishes like pulihora (lemon rice) and bobbatlu also known as puranpoli (a delicacy made with jaggery and chana dal) as well as the Ugadi Pachadi (chutney), which symbolises the six tastes of life, also known as Shadruchulu, namely sweet, salty, bitter, spicy and sour flavors, each of which represents one of the six fundamental emotions that people experience. They also decorated their homes with mango leaves and a variety of flowers.

Sri Yellamma Pochamma Devalayam, also known as Balkampet Yellamma temple, had over one lakh devotees visiting the temple from dusk to dawn. Around 40 children with special abilities were seen worshipping the Goddess and participated in the afternoon feast. “When these children were participating in the archana and having prasadam here, I felt as if the Goddess herself came in the form of these children to this temple. The Panchangam was read in the afternoon," said S. Annapurna, executive officer of the temple.

The day also marked Panchanga Shravana, the Panchangam reading that includes predictions for the coming year. More than 50,000 devotees were present at Birla Mandir, the famous Balaji temple, for the "Panchangam” reading.  Astrologer Sanganabhatla Narasimha Murthy Sidanthi read the "Panchangam," stating that it would be a "favorable year for agriculture, with abundant rains in the state, but there will be political unrest”. “India will have a successful year, and software and education-related industries will also prosper,” he predicted.