SRIKAKULAM: Devotees thronged various Lord Shiva temples across the district on Maha Shivaratri.
The renowned Sreemukhalingeswara, Yendala Mallikarjuna and Uma Rudra Koteswara temples were choc-a-bloc with devotees from Friday wee hours.
Devotees also visited Mahendragiri in the Eastern Ghats near Mandasa village on the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB).
It is said that Pandavas lived on the hilltop during their exile (aranyavasam) in Dwaparyuga. Temples of Kunti, Dharmaraju, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were constructed on the hilltop, about 27 km near Sabakota village in Mandasa mandal.
More than a lakh devotees visited the hilltop shrines from AP and Odisha. AP Public Transport department plied about 50 buses to Sabakota from Palasa depot to Mahendragiri.
Devotees thronged Sreemukhalingam temple, which was built in the eighth century. Separate queue lines were formed for persons with disabilities, general public and VIPs.