'Dakshin Kashi' beckons

Mahashivaratri

A serpentine queue was formed at as early as 4 am to have the darshan of the deity. The devotees bathed in the River Kapila which flows besides the temple, and stood in the queue for the darshan. They offered ‘bilva patre’ and lit camphor inside the temple.

Five cans of Ganga Jal supplied by the State Government was used to do ‘abhisheka’ to the deity. Later, the water was distributed among devotees as prasada.

This was followed by abhisheka with ghee, curds, coconut water and panchamrutha. There was special decoration to the deity as well as the whole temple. Besides, the temple was gorgeously decorated with the special illumination.

As per the rituals, pujas were held four times-6 pm, 10 pm and 12 midnight and the next day at 4 am. The utsavamurthy of Lord Srikanteshwara was taken out in a procession on main roads of the town. The Kailasa Utsava will be held at 7 am on Thursday which will be followed by maha mangalarathi. All the programmes were being supervised by N Ramamurthy, executive officer of the temple.

Thousands of people observed ‘jagarane’ by witnessing a variety of cultural programmes and religious discourses.

The district administration made elaborate arrangements to see that the celebrations passed off peacefully.