It was a strange paradox in the Telugu states. Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who claims himself to be a bigger Hindu than any other Bharatiya Janata Party leader, has ignored the official Ugadi celebrations and “panchanga pathanam” programme in Hyderabad.
On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is a known Christian by faith, religiously took part in the rituals of Ugadi celebrations, took the blessings of Vedic pundits and heard the Panchanga Pathanam at his Tadepalli camp office.
In Telangana, it was a very simple affair, as the official programme was confined to only the Endowments Department office at Boggulakunta in Hyderabad, which was attended by endowments minister A Indrakaran Reddy and advisor to the government K Ramanachary.
The minister released the calender of Yadadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy and extended greetings to the people. KCR’s official pundit Bachampalli Santosh Kumar read out the panchangam.
But in Andhra Pradesh, it was a grand celebration. Jagan released the Panchangam and took the blessings from the priests of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD) who chanted vedic hymns and presented him the TTD Panchangam and Prasadam.
Jagan, who wore a traditional Hindu attire, wished that there would be abundant rainfall, good luck to famers, and every sister to be happy. He also wished every house in the state to prosper and everyone should win in war against COVID and wished a very happy Ugadi to all.
Jagan felicitated Government Siddanthi Kappaganthula Subbaraju Somayajulu, Chief Priest of Durga Malleshwara swami temple Sri Lingambatla Durga Prasad, Sri A V K Narasimhacharyulu, priest of Markapuram in Prakasam district, Mamillapalli Mruthyunjaya Prasad, priest of Tenali in Guntur district and Deputy Chief Priest Kota Ravi Kumar and Vedic scholar RVS Yajulu.