Spiritual fervour pervaded across the state on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri here on Friday.
In Puri, a beeline of devotees thronged the Lokanath temple and various other shrines to offer their prayers to Lord Shiva. The district administration made elaborate arrangements at the temple including provision of drinking water and toilet facilities, dedicated parking places and queue system to facilitate smooth conduct of the festival.
Security was tightened in all Shiva shrines to maintain law and order. While devotees lit diyas to observe ‘Jagara brata’ and spent the night at the temples, servitors lift the Mahadeepa atop the shrines to mark the occasion. After that, the temple priests offer Khichdi bhog to the deities.
The arrangements were supervised by sub-collector Gopinath Kuanra who is also the chief of Lokanath temple trust. District magistrate Siddharth Shankar Swain and SP Pinak Mishra were present.
Similarly, a sea of devotees thronged various Shiva temples in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts to celebrate the occasion. Chandaneswar and Bhusandeswar temples in Balasore witnessed devotees not just from the district but from neighbouring state West Bengal as well.
In Mayurbhanj, devotees in thousands visited the Kakharua Bidyanath Shiva temple in Manatri and Shiva temple in Simileswar and lit diyas in reverence. A senior police officer said nearly three platoons of police force were deployed in Simileswar and Manatri for security management.
In Jajpur, lakhs of devotees visited Shiva temples across the district to offer their prayers to the lord. Special arrangements were made at Mahavinayak temple in Chandikhole, Gokarneswar temple in Jaraka and Siddheswar shrine in Jajpur. Anticipating huge rush, the shrines were barricaded for effective crowd management.
Meanwhile in Jeypore, devotees from across the state and neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh thronged the Gupteswar temple here to celebrate the occasion. Devotees took a dip at Saveri river nearby before venturing into the caved shrine. Koraput administration made elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the festival.
Balangir, too, was gripped with spiritual fervour on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri as Harishankar and Ranipur Jharial temples saw huge footfall.