Kartheeka pournami: Gudem temple swarmed by devotees

Nityavahanam, Baliharanam, Mahapurnahuthi and many other rituals were performed as part of the festivities. MLA K Premsagar Rao, Collector Kumar Deepak visited the temple and performed prayers.

Mancherial: The annual festivities were celebrated at the ancient Sri Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam (SSD), situated on a hillock, to mark the full moon day of auspicious Kartheeka masam at Gudem village in Dandepalli mandal on Friday.

Nityavahanam, Baliharanam, Mahapurnahuthi and many other rituals were performed as part of the festivities. MLA K Premsagar Rao, Collector Kumar Deepak visited the temple and performed prayers. They were welcomed by the authorities and priests of the shrine. Rao said that steps were being taken to create better amenities for devotees.

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Meanwhile, around 50,000 devotees belonging to several parts of the district and neighboring Jagtial, Peddapalli and Adilabad districts thronged the shrine and performed special prayers from early morning. They earlier had a holy dip in Godavari river situated on the outskirts of the village and formed serpentine queue lines to take darshan of the deity.

A large number of couples performed Satyanarayana vratam, an important and annual ritual as a token of gratitude for the well-being of their family members. The shrine is the much sought-after pilgrim centre for conducting the ritual. Special venues were arranged helping the couples to conduct the ritual.

TSRTC operated special buses from Mancherial and Dharmapur to Gudem for the convenience of the devotees. Staffers of the medical department were kept ready for handling medical emergencies. Security was stepped to prevent untoward incidents. Parking lots were created. The devotees were fed by the management of the temple.

SSD is the major pilgrim centre of the district and is regarded as Annavaram of Telangana.