Covid dampens Ugadi festivities

People chose to celebrate the festival in their houses with temples and public places wearing a deserted look

Hyderabad: Ugadi, one of the most prominent Telugu festivals, was a low-key and private affair this year as well, due to the alarming rise in Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks. Though it has been a custom to organise Ugadi celebrations by the State government, this year, it was decided that the festivities would be without much fanfare.

The usual festive scenes of devotees thronging temples in large numbers since the early hours went missing at most places in the city. In fact, some temples wore a deserted look as many people opted to do the puja in their house. Those few who went to the temples, had to adhere to strict Covid-19 protocols.

Artist, Sravanti Julluri, shares that she would rather spend a quite day at home rather than be a carrier for someone else. “It wasn’t much of a change from last year — it was just me, my mother and my son. Generally we do a festive lunch, however we thought it would be better to celebrate the new year virtually. We called our relatives and took their blessing,” she says. Pranita Jonnalagedda, a working professional in the city, visited the temple on the festival.

“There weren’t many people in the temple like there are usually on festivals. I haven’t visited any of my friends or family. We were looking forward to it as we couldn’t do anything much last year. However, the Ugadi pachhadi hasn’t lost its taste.”

There was no rush at any mall, restaurant or public places, which otherwise would have been a common sight on a festival. People were also cautious to not visit their friends on Ugadi. However, a low-key celebration also gave people to spend time with their close family.

“Last year we were all stuck in the house with not much knowledge of what lies ahead. However, after the lock down was lifted we all have been very busy making up for the time lost. Thus, it was refreshing to celebrate the festival with just my close family and have a good lunch with them,” shares fashion designer from the city, Shravan Kumar.

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