People taking selfies at Jayadev Batika in Bhubaneswar on the first day of New Year, Monday
Post News Network
BHUBANESWAR: Despite Monday’s cloudy weather, people were spotted celebrating the year’s first day visiting temples in Unit III, Louis Road, Old Town, tourist places such as Udaygiri, Ratnagiri, Dhauli hills and Jayadev Batika with their friends and relatives. Some celebrated the first day of the year by visiting picnic spots in and around the city. People gathered in large numbers at temples to offer prayers to the deities on the first day of the New Year. Disha Tripathy, a visitor to a temple, said every human being seeks blessings before beginning a venture.
Devotees at Lingaraj temple were seen waiting outside the shrine to have a glimpse of Lord Shiva’s idol. Geeta Mohanty, who was waiting in a long queue since 8am to enter the inner sanctum, said she had come to offer special prayers at the temple. Interestingly, some late night party revellers of the city (December 31 night) who thronged city’s known hotels Sunday evening were spotted at the temples early in the morning. Tourists from abroad also spent the year’s first day in the city. Artartam Mishelov, a tourist from Moscow along with his wife Mila, visited several temples in the city. The couple is on a world tour of 33 countries. An engineer by profession, Mishelov said he was on a tour to see people who are really ‘‘happy in their life’’. Till now, the two hadvisited Georgia, Romania, Iran, Pakistan, Norway and India. People also thronged famous tourist sites such as Udayagiri and Ratnagiri to celebrate the first day of the year. The footfall of tourists was also very large at other tourist destinations in the city.
The Jayadev Batika Park attracted a large gathering because of its multiple waterfalls. Dwarika Gooth from Rajasthan visited theplace with his wife for the first time in the city. He said the New Year is ‘‘an annual celebration’’ and he had travelled many places across the city to celebrate the first day of the year.
While the people celebrated the first day of the New Year with great fervour, the last day of 2017 was also celebrated with equal joy. Hotel Sandy Towers had organised a ghazal show where celebrated ghazal artistes from the city performed. “We had not fixed tickets for the celebration this time. We had brought four ghazal singers who recited for the audiences,’’ said Deepti Ranjan Mohanty of the hotel. A DJ group from Kolkata – Anisha and Om – performed chartbuster songs in Hindi, English andOriya for the audiences at Hotel Swosti Premium. Special theme such as ‘Mask’ was arranged for the participants. Prizes for the best compatible couple, best male and best female and best child dancer was also given away at the show. At Hotel HHI, Indian idol fame Debangana Karmakar performed for the people on the New Year celebrations. A fashion show was also organised by some hotels in the city.
