HYDERABAD: The first day of the 12-day Maha Pushkaralu in Telangana Godavari was still peacefully as hundreds of thousands of devotees took holy dip in the river in several ghats created in the five districts.
Ghats of Pushkar in Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam districts were full of devotees who participate in this special event. Astrological marked by a unique arrangement, Maha Pushkaralu comes once in 144 years.
Marking the start of the mega-festival, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his wife Shobha Rao and family members performed the rituals and took the holy dip in the temple town of Dharmapuri in Karimnagar district. He also participated in a Shobha Yatra Narasimha Swamy temple in the city accompanied by pontiffs head several stray dogs.
For the prime minister, worshiping the Godavari River in Dharmapuri during Pushkaralu was also the fulfillment of the promise he had made that he would take the holy dip and pay homage to the deity at the shrine if reaches Telangana statehood.
“It was not only religious, but an emotional occasion for the head of government involved in Pushkaralu in Dharmapuri” said a source close to KCR.
The festival began in Bhadrachalam with Sri Sri Sri Swami Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Srimannaryana formally start the event with special prayers and take a bath in the river. He acted Chakrasnanam and offered prayers to the goddess statue Godavari, on the banks of the river. He was accompanied by Minister of T Harish Rao, Tummala Nageswara Rao and Telangana BJP state president G Kishan Reddy and others. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha and Nizamabad MP and Minister of Agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy Pochampadu celebrated the festival in the Nizamabad district.
Ensure arrangements for the festival, the government has spent over Rs Telangana. 500 for several works, including the creation of 106 bathing ghats in the five boroughs. Considering the dry river, water Sriramsagar been released, Yellampalli Kadem and reservoirs to ensure the flow in the river for pilgrims bathe in.
Following the rituals performed in the temple in Dharmapuri, the chief minister held a brief meeting to take stock of preparations for the Pushkaralu. A Indrakaran Endowment Minister Reddy, Dharmapuri MLA Koppula Eswar Commissioner Shivashankar endowment income and principal secretary BR Meena participated in the meeting where officials evaluated the chief minister in the arrangements.
Later in the day, KCR convened a review meeting with responsible officials including Secretary Rajiv Sharma, and the director general of police Anurag Sharma in Hyderabad. As reports rising tide of pilgrims came from Bhadrachalam and Kaleswaram, the CM Interior Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy and Anurag Sharma he rushed to overview agreements there. Narasimha Reddy and Anurag Sharma left in a helicopter in the afternoon and then inspected the arrangements in places.
