The New Year 2026 was welcomed across the country with devotion, joy, faith, and cheers. People everywhere were seen immersed in religious fervor. On the first day of the year, people left their homes and headed to major temples and pilgrimage sites, bowing their heads at the feet of deities and praying for happiness, peace, and prosperity.
Long queues of devotees were seen at temples.
Long queues of devotees were observed at various religious sites, including Ramlala in Ayodhya, Baba Vishwanath in Kashi, Lord Mahakal in Ujjain, Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu, Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Shri Krishna in Mathura-Vrindavan, and Khatu Shyam Ji, Shrinath Ji of Nathdwara, and Mehandipur Balaji in Rajasthan.
In Ayodhya, hundreds of devotees had lined up outside the temple for darshan of Ramlala since 5 AM, which led to the darshan starting earlier than scheduled. Due to the crowd, the temple gates were not closed even during the afternoon. They were closed only for five minutes for the offering of bhog (food). Instead of five queues, eight queues were used to manage the flow of devotees.
By 4 PM, more than 150,000 devotees had had darshan. By the time the gates closed, this number had reached 300,000. From 4 AM to 11 PM (until the Shayan Aarti), approximately 550,000 devotees had darshan of Baba Vishwanath.
Meanwhile, according to Mirzapur Nagar Magistrate Avinash Singh, approximately 350,000 devotees had darshan and offered prayers at the Maa Vindhyavasini Dham by midnight. In Ujjain, the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple was illuminated with the light of faith on the first morning of the New Year, where more than 300,000 devotees had darshan, including the Bhasma Aarti.
A record number of people visited Mathura-Vrindavan.
In Mathura-Vrindavan, the crowd at the Thakur Banke Bihari temple was relatively less in the morning, but the enthusiasm of devotees was at its peak in Govardhan and Barsana. In Chitrakoot, approximately one million devotees had darshan at Swami Kamtanath Dham and performed the Kamadgiri circumambulation. In Jammu and Kashmir, long queues of devotees, stretching one to one and a half kilometers, were seen at the Vaishno Devi shrine located on the Trikuta mountain amidst light rain and cold winds.
Heavy rush at Himachal Pradesh's Shaktipeeths
A massive influx of devotees was also witnessed at the Shaktipeeths of Himachal Pradesh – Maa Naina Devi, Maa Chintpurni, Maa Jwalamukhi, Maa Chamunda Nandikeshwar, and Maa Bajreshwari. Meanwhile, in Rajasthan, Khatu Shyam Ji, Sanwaliya Ji, Ekling Ji, Trinetra Ganesh, and the Govind Devji and Ganesh temples in Jaipur saw large crowds of devotees throughout the day.
Over one lakh devotees visited Orchha.
On the occasion of the New Year, special arrangements were made by the temple administration and the district administration for security, crowd control, and the convenience of the devotees. In Orchha, the religious city known as the Ayodhya of Bundelkhand, more than one lakh devotees sought the blessings of Shri Ramraja Sarkar. People started the new year with faith, discipline, and enthusiasm, and a festive atmosphere was observed at religious tourist centers across the country.
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