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Time of India
06-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
‘Rottela Panduga' draws huge influx of devotees to Nellore from across India
Tirupati: Rottela Panduga—also known as the Roti festival — got off to a spectacular start as lakhs of devotees from across the country congregated at Nellore to take part in the inaugural proceedings of this unique festival on Sunday. The mujavars of the dargah began the day's celebrations by using sandal to signify the beginning of the utsav. After the rituals, the dargah surroundings witnessed a surge of crowds with long queues being formed by the devotees during the day. The most important and highly venerated part of the festival is the 'Gandha Mahotsavam' (sandal paste utsavam), which will take place at the dargah on Monday night. Muslim devotees queued up to the Bara Shaheed Dargah in very large numbers and offered special prayers, followed by the unique tradition of exchanging rotis at the Swarnala Cheruvu, which is believed to help them fulfill their worldly desires. This annual festival which began at the Bara Shaheed Dargah at Nellore on Sunday will conclude on Thursday. Nellore district administration is anticipating that nearly 25 lakh devotees may take part in the Rottela Panduga this year. Nellore district collector O Anand and SP G Krishnakanth told reporters that elaborate arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of this annual festival over the next five days. While 1,700 plus police personnel will remain on guard to ensure the festival goes on smoothly without any untoward incidents, nearly 6,000 odd sanitation workers have been deployed to ensure that the entire premises divided into different zones are maintained cleanly till the end of the festival.
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- The Hindu
Ministers Lokesh, Farook to attend ‘Rottela Panduga' in Nellore today
Minister for Human Resource Development and Information Technology Nara Lokesh and Minister for Law and Justice and Minority Welfare N. Md. Farooq will attend the 'Rottela Panduga' festivities at Bara Shaheed Dargah in Nellore on Sunday (July 6). Devotees from all over the country and overseas come to exchange 'roti' at Swarnala Cheruvu, the lake adjacent to Bara Shaheed Dargah, which is famous worldwide as a symbol of religious harmony, during the five-day festival. The district administration has taken all measures in organising the festival in a grand manner. Gandha Mahotsavam will be celebrated on Monday (July 7), and the closing ceremony will be on Thursday (July 10). As per the instructions of Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Ponguru Narayana, District Collector O. Anand, SP G. Krishnakanth and Municipal Commissioner Y.O. Nandan are continuously monitoring the arrangements. The officials said that drinking water facilities and toilets were set up, over 5,000 workers were deployed to ensure cleanliness in seven zones of the dargah premises. Around 1,600 policemen were deployed, swimmers and boat patrolling was also arranged for safety at Swarnala Cheruvu, they added. Continuous surveillance was ensured with 70 CCTV cameras, about 24 parking lots were made available in all directions of the dargah to ensure that the devotees have a pleasant darshan and return peacefully, they added.
