VIJAYAWADA: Lakhs of devotees bathed in the sacred rivers and other water bodies long before the first rays of Sun touched the earth and headed for various Shiva temples. At all major and minor shaivite shrines, serpentine queues were witnessed. The number of devotees swelled at the temples around midnight, when ‘Lingodbhava Abhishekams’ were performed followed by ‘Kalyanam’ of the presiding deity and His Consort.
The night came alive at many temples of Lord Shiva, as the colourful illumination of the temples turned them into bright jewels. Colorfully decorated ‘Prabhas’ at different places were the cynosure of all eyes.
With folded hands and chants of ‘Om Nama Shivaya’, ‘Hara Hara Mahadeva’ devotees waited for hours in the queue lines for their turn to have a ‘darshan’ of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy at Srisailam in Kurnool district. After a holy dip in Patalganga, devotees trekked to the hilltop shrine and participated in the rituals. Those, who had taken up ‘Siva Deeksha’ completed their ‘deekshas’ by offering ‘irumudi’ at Srisailam. Elaborate security arrangements were made.
Srikalahasti in Chittoor district came alive with thousands of devotees offering prayers to Sri Kalahasteeswara in the form of Vayu Linga. Forest Minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy offered ‘pattu vastrams’ (sacred silk clothes) to the deity on behalf of the State Government. Police made elaborate arrangements to prevent any child marriages from taking place at the place.
At Kotappakonda in Guntur district, Maha Shivaratri was celebrated as a state festival. AP Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao offered the ‘pattu vastram’ to the deity on behalf of the state government. Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao and several important people from the district offered prayers. Elaborate arrangements were made for the convenience of the pilgrims.
In Amaravati, situated on the banks of Krishna River, thusands of pilgrims offered prayers to ‘Amareswara’ at the Amararama temple, one of the Pancharamas. The other four temples of the Pancharamas - Draksharama, Somarama, Ksheerarama, and Kumararama - located in East and West Godavari districts also witnessed lakhs of devotees offering prayers throughout the day and night. The Pushkar Ghats of River Godavari were teeming with devotees from far-off places who thronged them to have a holy dip in the river.
In Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts also Maha Shivaratri was celebrated in a grand manner. The Sri Mukhalingam temple at Arasavalli in Srikakulam district witnessed huge gatherings of devotees who had queued up to perform special ‘abhishekam’ to the deity.
In Krishna district, all the Shiva temples reverberated with the chants of ‘Om Namasivaya’, ‘Hara Hara Mahadeva’ and ‘Shambo Siva Shankara’ rendered by lakhs of devotees on the occasion.
The bathing ghats of Krishna river in the city witnessed thousands of devotees having a sacred bath from as early as 2 am before heading to various Shiva temples to offer prayers to the Lord. The authorities concerned arranged 180 showers at the ghats. They also erected barricades for the safety of the pilgrims along with police protection at the bathing ghats and also at the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam and other temples in the city.
Thousands of devotees thronged the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam on Indrakeeladri and offered prayers to Lord Malleswara, consort of the Goddess, on the occasion after a holy dip in the nearby river Krishna.
“The temples were jampacked with devotees stading in long queues since early morning and priests performed ‘Akhanda Deeparadhana’, ‘Lingarchana’, ‘Ksheerabhishemams’ and other special ‘poojalu’ to Lord Shiva”, said Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam EO Ch Narsing Rao.
Apart from Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam and Sri Parvathi Ramalingeswarla Swamyvarla Devasthanam at Yanamalakuduru, the Sri Ramalingeswara Swamy temples at Mutyalu, Iluru, Kudali, Gantasala and Balive and Somalingeswara Swamy temple in Nadakuduru in the district celebrated the festival on a grand scale.
“According to Shiva Puranam, the devotees who take a holy dip in a holy river and worship Lord Shiva on the Mahashivaratri day with ‘bilva’ leaves will have the blessings of Lord Shiva. Devotees believe that all their sins will be washed off by fasting during the day, foregoing their sleep at night and worshipping Lord Shiva on the special day,” explained Umakanth Sharma, a priest from a Shiva temple in the city.
On the occasion, the Yenamalakuduru temple was specially decorated with attractive colourful lights. The temple was decorated with ‘thoranams’ and ‘mandapams’. The priests performed ‘Kalyanotsavam’ of the presiding deity at Sri Parvathi Ramalingeswara Swamy and people from neighbouring villages thronged Yanamalakuduru to have a glimpse of the procession, arranged by the temple late in the night.
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