Devotees throng Gunadala shrine on day one of Mary Matha Utsavams

Vijayawada Bishop Telagathoti Joseph Raja Rao leads Gunadala Mary Matha Utsavams, offering prayers and blessings to devotees.

Devotees who offer prayers to Goddess Mary Matha will be relieved of all problems, said Vijayawada Bishop Telagathoti Joseph Raja Rao in his message on the first day of the Gunadala Mary Matha Utsavams.

The Bishop, along with Monsignore Muvvala Prasad, Vicar General Mesapam Gabriel and Gunadala Church Rector Yeleti Willian Jayaraju Swamy lit the lamp and inaugurated the celebrations at Bishop Grassi High School grounds in Gunadala shrine on Sunday. The Bishop and other priests performed mass prayers and offered blessings to the devotees.

Later, Fr. P.K. Joseph, Fr. Kolakani Mariyanna and Social Service Centre director Fr. Thota Sunil Raju offered holy mass on the occasion. In the evening, the processional idol of Mary Matha was taken to the streets and the devotees broke coconuts and offered prayers.

The Bishop Grassi High School grounds, in which the utsava committee provided accommodation, was packed with devotees. Serpentine queues were seen since dawn at Gunadala Hill to have a ‘darshan’ of Mary Matha. The devotees offered vows (mokkus) to the goddess and offered special prayers at the shrine.