Grand Sankranti celebrations held in Dharmavaram
Dharmavaram: Sankranti celebrations were held with much fanfare at the Government College Grounds in Dharmavaram on Thursday, with State Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav participating along with his family and local residents.
As part of the festivities, the Minister first offered special prayers to Gomata, highlighting the importance of cows in Indian culture.
He said Gomata plays a vital role in agriculture, livestock-based livelihoods, and maintaining ecological balance, and continues to be the backbone of rural life and farmers’ sustenance.
The celebrations featured a range of cultural and sporting events. The Minister keenly watched karate demonstrations by children and lauded their discipline, confidence, and courage, stressing the need for youngsters to take up sports from an early age to build mental strength and self-belief.
A friendly cricket match involving NDA alliance leaders and party workers emerged as a major attraction.
Yadav formally inaugurated the match by tossing the coin and actively took part in batting, bowling, and fielding, drawing applause from the crowd.
He later congratulated both the winning and runner-up teams and encouraged all participants for their sporting spirit. Addressing the gathering, the Minister said sporting events foster unity and camaraderie between leaders and grassroots workers.
In a separate segment of the celebrations, traditional rural games such as spinning tops, marbles, stick-and-disc games, tug of war, kite flying, and kabaddi were organised to revive interest in indigenous sports. The Minister personally participated in several games, interacting with children and youth.
Sixteen teams competed in the men’s kabaddi tournament, with the Anantapur team emerging winners and Tadipatri finishing runners-up. Cash prizes of Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively were awarded. The programme witnessed the participation of public representatives, NDA leaders, officials, youth, women, and a large number of residents from Dharmavaram, making the Sankranti celebrations a grand success.
