Bhogi festival ignites sankranthi festive mood across Rayalaseema

Tirupati: Bhogi festival ignited the Sankranthi festive mood across the Rayalaseema and Nellore districts on Wednesday. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) staffers, along with the visiting devotees, lit up the Bhogi campfire in front of the world-renowned Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple at Tirumala in the early hours on Wednesday. Similar festivities were observed at all prominent TTD temples in Tirupati. Chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, along with his family members, celebrated the Bhogi festival at Naravaripalli near Tirupati. Naidu and his wife, Nara Bhuvaneswari, witnessed the Haridasu Sankeerthans and a display by a decorated bull, as is the tradition during the Sankranthi festival. CM extended Sankranthi greetings to the people of Andhra Pradesh in a message. Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, his wife, and Kovur TDP MLA Vemireddy Prashanti Reddy lit up the Bhogi campfire at their residence in Kovur on Wednesday. Govt whip and Kadapa MLA Reddeppagari Madhavi Reddy and TDP politburo member R Srinivasulu Reddy took part in the Bhogi-Sankranthi festivities held at the police parade grounds in Kadapa. Meanwhile, YSRCP leaders burnt the TDP-NDA alliance's 2024 election manifesto in the Bhogi campfire at several places across the Rayalaseema and Nellore districts on Wednesday.