Thousands of devotees from not only the town but also neighbouring villages thronged the altars and performed special prayers, forming serpentine queue lines. A major portion of them presented bonam, bangaram or jaggery, while others sacrificed chickens and sheep to thank the deities for their well-being. They took a holy bath in the Godavari river before taking darshan of the deities. Devotees danced to drum beats and trumpet music while the deities were being shifted from the wild to the altars in a lively procession on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, a large number of coal miners and devotees visited similar mini altars installed at the RK1 mine in Ramakrishnapur, on the premises of the Mukkidi Pochamma temple in Srirampur and some other places on the outskirts of Bellampalli, Thandur and mandal headquarters.