Amritsar, Jan 1 || Braving biting cold, hundreds of devotees thronged the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab and other shrines in the region early on Thursday to usher in the New Year.
At the Golden Temple complex, around 250 km from here, the devotees queued up since midnight to offer prayers. Long queues could be seen on Thursday morning with people waiting for their turn to offer prayers inside the 'Harmandir Sahib', the sanctum sanctorum.
Several devotees could be seen taking a dip in the holy 'sarovar' in the Golden Temple. “We are really blessed to offer prayers in the Golden Temple on the first day of the New Year. May 2026 be filled with prayers answered and goals achieved,” Kavita Gupta, a devotee from Delhi, said.
Also, people thronged the Mata Mansa Devi shrine in Panchkula near Chandigarh to offer prayers.
Elsewhere in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, people offered prayers at various shrines to mark the New Year.
Punjab Governor and Administrator of Chandigarh, Gulab Chand Kataria, has extended warm greetings and best wishes to the people of Punjab and Chandigarh on the occasion of the New Year.