Devotees thronged Subrahmanya Swamy temples and snake pits in the city and other places in Prakasam district to worship the “Naga devata” on the auspicious Nagula Chavithi on Monday.
Right from dawn, women made a beeline to the Subrahmanya Swamy temple near the Rangarayudu Cheruvu here, which houses a centuries old snake pit, to offer worship.
Women offered milk and eggs at the snake pit at the Nellore bus stand Vinayaka temple with reverence for the well-being of themselves and their family members on the occasion which coincided with Karthika Somavaram.
Worship of serpent deities had been in vogue in several ancient cultures as devotees believe that one could get rid of prolonged illness by worshiping the snake god. People also performed ‘Ksheerabishekam’ to tiny snake images in their homes to appease Lord Nagaraja.
Special Correspondent from Nellore adds:
Carrying milk sachets, flowers and other puja material, women devotees thronged the Nagendra Swamy temples and snake pits in Nellore city.
Attired in new dresses, the devotees started arriving at Dharmarajula Swamy temple in Mulapeta area right from the morning hours.
They poured milk on the idols and prayed to the serpent god for knowledge and well-being.
The people also made a beeline to the snake pits located at Vedayapalem, Porlukatta on the banks of Penna river and at Balajinagar.
Holy dip in rivers
Staff Reporter from Srikakulam adds:
Many temples including Srimukha Lingam, Uma Koteswara Alayam, Sangameswara temple of Sangam and the Mallikharjuna Swamy temple of Ravivalasa were swarmed on the first ‘Karthika Somavaram’ considered auspicious to offer prayers to Lord Shiva.
Pilgrims from other parts of the State also thronged the temples after having holy bath in rivers like Nagavali, Vamsadhara, Mahendra Tanaya and others.
The Andhra Pradesh Endowments Department and local temple authorities made special arrangements to ensure hassle free darsan in temples like Uma Rudra Koteswara Alayam in Srikakulam town.
Special prayers were offered in Gairamma temple in Jarajapupeta of Neelimarla mandal of Vizianagaram district. Temple truestee Jaggina Adinarayana said Gairamma was an incarnation of goddess Gowri, wife of Lord Shiva.
“Batukamma festival is given a lot of importance in Telangana. On the same lines, women devotees offer prayers to Gairamma after performing traditional dances and songs,” he said.
Package tours to Pancharamas
Special Correspondent from Rajamahendravaram adds:
Devotees thronged the four Pancharama Kshetras in the East and West Godavari districts on the occasion of first Monday in Karthika Masam. The RTC arranged special package tours and extra buses in view of the rush.
Draksharama in Ramachandrapuram mandal and Kumararama in Samalkot in East Godavari, Somarama in Bheemavaram, Ksheerarama in Palkol in the West Godavari district have seen heavy crowd from the dawn.
Meanwhile, devotees took holy dip in river Godavari and visited Siva temples. They also visited snake pits to offer milk and eggs on the occasion of Nagula Chavithi.