Hyderabad: On the auspicious day of Kartika Poornima, devotees across the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are actively taking part in religious rituals and lighting lamps in Shiva temples from the early hours on Wednesday.

Woman visited the temples since early morning to offer special pujas. Long queues were witnessed at many temples including Vemulawada, Neelakanteswara temple in Nizamabad in Telangana and Srisailam, Sri Kalahasti and Shiva temples in AP.

At all the major temples in Andhra Pradesh including Srikalahasti and Srisailam, the devotees had to wait for long hours for darshan. All river banks of Krishna and Godavari echoed with the chants of 'Siva Namam' by the devotees taking a holy dip.

In Telangana, people had to wait in long queues to offer prayers to Lord Shiva in Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy in Vemulawada, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy devasthanams in Dharmapuri, Sri Kalahastheeswara Swamy devasthanams in Kaleshwaram in Karimnagar district and Narasimhaswamy temple in Yadadri.

Thousands of devotees have taken a holy dip at Godavari at Basar before offering puja at the Gnana Saraswati temple. Later, woman lit up lamps in the water. The famous Shiva temples in Khammam, Penuballi, Madhira, Kusumanchi, Chandrugonda, and other mandals will have a rush of devotees throughout the day.

Kartika Poornima is a holy festival, celebrated on the Poornima (full moon day) or the fifteenth lunar day of Kartika masam (November–December).