Varalakshmi Vratam Celebrated Across Hyderabad as Markets and Temples Draw Crowds

Households across Hyderabad were steeped in festive fervour on Friday as women celebrated the auspicious Varalakshmi Vratam with traditional rituals, pomp, and devotion, leading to heavy rush at temples and major flower markets in localities like Gudimalkapur and Jambagh.

The festival, dedicated to invoking Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth, prosperity, and well-being, saw residential neighbourhoods and commercial hubs come alive. Temples witnessed serpentine queues of devotees throughout the day, while households across the city were decorated with vibrant arrangements of silk, gold, and fresh flowers.

Wholesale and retail flower markets across Hyderabad experienced immense crowds starting Thursday evening and extending into Friday morning. Commercial hubs and key wholesale flower markets, particularly in Gudimalkapur and Jambagh, registered heavy footfall that triggered massive traffic congestion in the surrounding stretches.

Devotees turned up in large numbers from the early hours of the morning to purchase essential puja materials. The sharp surge in demand for fresh flowers led to prices skyrocketing across both wholesale and retail outlets in the city.

Throughout the day, residential areas echoed with the chanting of sacred hymns and the aroma of Naivedyam, the traditional food offering prepared for the Goddess. Dressed in their festive attire, women performed the customary rituals, meticulously setting up and arranging the kalasham—the sacred brass or copper pot that symbolises Goddess Lakshmi.