Hyderabad, March 16 (IANS) People offered special prayers, decorated their houses and shops with mango leaves and tasted a bit of the traditional sweet-sour 'Ugadi pacchadi' as Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, was celebrated across Andhra Pradesh Tuesday.

Thousands of devotees thronged temples to pray for happiness and prosperity in the New Year. Special prayers were held at the Tirumala, Srisailam and Vijayawada temples.

People customarily taste a bit of the 'Ugadi pacchadi', a mixture of neem buds, raw mango, tamarind juice, pepper, jaggery and salt. The mixture symbolises that life is a mixture of bitter-sweet experiences which should be accepted together and with equanimity.

People also attended special functions where the priests read out the 'panchangnam' or religious almanac of the coming year. Literary discussions, poetry recitations, recognition of authors through awards and cultural programmes also marked the day.

Like every year, the state government organised an official function 'panchangna sarvanam', at Ravindra Bharati in the state capital, where an 'agma' pundit read out the religious almanac of the coming year. He forecast that the coming year would bring prosperity for the state and its people.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and some of his cabinet colleagues attended the main celebrations and tasted the sweet-sour 'Ugadi pacchadi'.

Rosaiah said he was praying for the well-being and prosperity of the people of the state.

'I hope that the coming year would bring happiness to the state in all sectors. There will be sufficient rains and bumper crop and industrial sector will perform better than last year,' he said.

The chief minister said his government was trying to plug the loopholes in the development and welfare of the state and its people.

Many people noted that the last year was one of the worst years as the state lost chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash in September, followed by unprecedented floods in Krishna river and agitation over the demand for separate statehood to the Telangana region.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu attended a 'panchangna sarvanam' held at NTR Trust Bhavan, the party headquarters. Similar functions were also held at the office of the ruling Congress party and offices of the Bharatiya Janata Party (PRP) and Praja Rajyam Party (PRP).