Karthika Pournami was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm across south coastal Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.
A dazzling display of lights at the Ganesh Ghat was the highlight of the celebrations in Nellore. Thousands of devotees thronged the river Penna to catch a glimpse of the ‘Penna Harathi’ organised on the lines of the ‘Ganga Harathi’ by the Simhapuri Karthika Deepotsavam Samiti.
The Harathi was performed by specially trained priests amid the chanting of Vedic hymns, accompanied by the blowing of the sankh (conch), ringing of bells, aroma of incense sticks as devotees chanted slogans hailing the divine couple Parvati and Parameswara.
In Prakasam district, all roads led to the picturesque Bhairavakona waterfalls in the Nallamalla forests, where Lord Siva in his eight forms is worshipped. Devotees from all over Prakasam, Nellore, Kadapa and other neighbouring districts trekked to the rock-cut templein the holy hills near Chandrasekharapuram — a protected monument of the Archeaological Survey of India (ASI).
Devotees also thronged Kothpatnam, Peddaganjam, Pakala, Ramayapatnam, Krishnapatnam, Kodur, Katepalli Mypadu Beach, Tupilipalem and other beaches for a holy dip on the occasion.
