Overview
- Vaishno Devi halted new registrations until Thursday morning to manage an overwhelming surge of pilgrims, with officials urging families with children and elderly travelers to delay trips.
- Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple opened at 3:15 am with an expected 3–4 lakh visitors and suspended special pujas, adding dedicated queues, LED screens, a medical post, free tea and milk, footwear counters and a free feeder bus from Dadar.
- Puri’s Jagannath Temple opened around 2:00 am under a heavy deployment of about 70 police platoons and hundreds of CCTV cameras and lifeguards, with officials reporting roughly 1.5 lakh darshans by late morning.
- Delhi allowed late stays at India Gate and deployed additional police and traffic teams, yet central areas still saw heavy footfall and congestion on New Year’s Day.
- States reported large turnouts and controls at major sites, including no‑vehicle zones and redirected entries in Rajasthan, holy dips and temple rushes across Uttar Pradesh, and expanded services and security in West Bengal.