Ugadi festival celebrated with pomp in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Sri Vilambi Nama Samvatsara, the Telugu New Year Ugadi festival was celebrated with traditional fervour in the city on Sunday. Dressed in traditional attire, people thronged different temples to offer prayers for prosperity and commence the New Year with the blessings of the almighty.

As part of the celebrations, temples were decorated with colourful flowers and lights. Special prayers and rituals were performed in the temples as part of the festivities. Sunday being a holiday, temples teemed with visitors, who arrived in large numbers, from early hours in the day.

In addition to the regular prasadam, many temple managements offered Ugadi Pacchadi, a special delicacy prepared with different ingredients like raw mango, neem buds, jaggery etc., for the festival, and that symbolises different hues of life.

Ugadi brings



with it the ritual of Panchaga Sravanam, the recitation of the new almanac, which was organised in a host of temples. Apart from the State government holding Panchanga Sravanam, a clutch of cultural organisations also organised the annual reading of the almanac at various places in Hyderabad.

Residential apartments and commercial establishments were decked up with flowers and strings of mango leaves. Many colony welfare associations too organised cultural and devotional programmes in their respective colonies.

Community halls in different colonies were the venues for classical dance shows and Panchaga Sravanam. Men and women exchanged pleasantries and greetings, besides the Ugadi Pacchadi.

Shilparamam Arts and Crafts Society organised special programmes as part of the Ugadi Vasanthostavulu at its premises in Madhapur.