Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam atop Indrakeeladri, witnessed thousands of devotees in red robes as the relinquishment of 21-day or 41-day ‘Bhavani Deeksha’ began yesterday. The Indrakeeladri Hill as well as the surroundings is filled up with devotees of all age groups. Devotees from far off places visited the temple early in the morning, by buses, cars, autos, lorries.

The devotees first made the ‘Giripradakshina’ and had a holy dip in the river Krishna and then had ‘darshan’ of the Goddess.

It was then time to put coconuts and other puja material contained in the ‘Irumudis’, into the ‘homagundam’ set up at ‘Mallikarjuna mandapam’ down the hill after ‘Agnipratishtapana’ was done. A large number of devotees were lined up in queues on the Canal Road waiting for their turn to have darshan of the Goddess on the auspicious occasion.  The Bhavani devotees thronged the ‘homagundam’ to perform rituals associated with Deeksha Viramana.

Approximately 8 lakh devotees are expected to visit the goddess for relinquishment of the deeksha. The rush of devotees is expected to reach its peak on Friday and Saturday. The temple authorities have decided to open darshan for the devotees from 3 a.m. to 11 p.m.
 
Free buses were arranged from railway station and bus station for the convenience of the devotees. Special medical camps were arranged on the hill.

Guntur has many surprises in the year 2015. The high-profile Amaravati Foundation in Uddandarayunipalem turned national attention. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other degenerates from Japan, Singapore graced the event. After this event the land prices have raised sky-high

CRDA managed to pool 33000 acres of land from farmers through land pooling system, which is a biggest achievement.

Setting up of temporary secretariat, AIIMS, Agriculture University, Spices Park, DGP Office, Police Headquarters are some of the major steps by government

Guntur Government Hospital Modernization is also a remarkable achievement.

And lastly to remember, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Chandrababu Naidu has set up his residence in Guntur, near to Undavalli Village, on the banks of River Krishna.

Let’s hope that in 2016 Guntur will have more development

The 27^th Vijayawada Book Festival is all set to organize at PWD Grounds from January 1^st to January 11^th. A total of 230 stalls are organized in the exhibition, compared to 389 stalls last year. The security cover for the CM Camp Office has apparently impacted the annual fete.

The book festival will be inaugurated by Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheshwara Rao. The arena was named after Late Muvvala Perumallu and the cultural activities stage was named after Late Chalasani Prasad.

Walk for the books, a walkathon, would be organized on January 4 from Gandhi Nagar press club to the book exhibition premises. The participants would offer a 10 per cent discount on books purchased at the exhibition.

The first book festival in Vijayawada is organized in the year 1989, September 29^th. The second book festival is held on January 5^th 1991 and third on January 20^th 1992. Since the fourth book festival, it is organized on January 1^st to January 11^th every year. The Vijayawada Book Festival is the second biggest in the country after Kolkata Book Festival

Vijayawada City police commissioner D Gautam Sawang wished the citizens a ‘Happy and Prosperous New Year’. He called upon citizens to celebrate the New Year Day with restraint.

In a press release, he said celebrations should be in a peaceful atmosphere respecting the law and without scope for any untoward incidents. In case of any problem, police can be contacted on Dial 100. The police have decided to impose restrictions on the night of December 31 to ensure responsible celebrations.

Below are the things to take care:

• Roadblocks and checkpoints to prevent any untoward incidents on the roads.
• Drunken driving prohibited. New Year revellers in drunken conditions should be escorted home by a person who has not consumed alcohol
• People advised not to remove silencers of motorcycle and disturbing others
• Elaborate security will be in place to ensure responsible celebrations.
• People are advised against eve teasing.
• People, especially youth are advised against speed driving, irresponsible driving, bike races and triple riding.
• They are also advised not to shout terrorising others.
• Any programme on December 31 night to welcome New Year has to obtain prior police permission.
• Stern action will be initiated against any obscene dances, anti-social and illegal activities
• Commercial and business establishments have to take prior police permissions to open their shops till 1 A.M. on New Year Day.
• Wine shops should be closed on their fixed time and any violation would be treated seriously.
• Close watch will be kept on Bandar road, Ramavarappadu ring road, Besant road