Chandigarh, Jan 1 (IANS): Hundreds of devotees thronged the Golden Temple complex in Punjab and other shrines in the region despite the biting cold to offer prayers early on Tuesday to usher in the New Year.

At the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, around 250 km from here, hundreds of devotees queued up since midnight to offer prayers.

Long queues could be seen on Tuesday morning with people waiting for their turn to offer prayers inside the 'Harmandir Sahib', the sanctum sanctorum.

Some devotees could be seen taking a dip in the holy 'sarovar' around the holiest of Sikh shrines braving the bone chilling cold in the region. Amritsar had recorded a minimum temperature of 1.3 degrees Celsius on Monday.

"We are blessed to be here for the New Year. This place gives you such a nice spiritual feeling," Sushma Rani, a devotee from Solan in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, said.

Around the Golden Temple complex also, hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the New Year 2019.

People thronged Mata Mansa Devi shrine in Panchkula near Chandigarh to offer prayers on the first day of the New Year.

Elsewhere in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, people offered prayers at various shrines to mark the New Year.