Thousands of devotees from across the region thronged temples in Himachal Pradesh on Monday to mark the beginning of 2018.
"We are expecting arrival of over 20,000 devotees at the temple today," an official at the hilltop Naina Devi shrine told IANS.
He said the arrival of devotes would continue for two more days.
One of the busiest shrines in north India, the Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district sees a majority of pilgrims from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Likewise, an early morning rush was seen at the popular temples of Chintpurni in Una, Baba Balak Nath in Hamirpur, Brajeshwari Devi, Jwalaji and Chamunda Devi in Kangra and Bhimakali and Hateshwari in Shimla district.
Devotees would also be able to watch live "darshan" of the Brajeshwari Devi, Naina Devi, Chintpurni and Jwalaji temples and would also be able to offer online offerings.
--IANS
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