'Om Namah Shivayah' echoes in city

‘Gangajal’ distributed to devotees; cultural programmes mark the day

The city was in a festive mood with all the Shiva temples decked up for the celebration of ‘Mahashivaratri’ on Monday. The temples were abuzz with activity holding several puja rituals like rudrabhisheka and others from 6 am onwards.

With the festival falling on Monday, which is said to be auspicious for the Lord, there was serpentine queues in front of all the temples from the break of the dawn to have a glimpse of the god and offer prayers for long life and prosperity.

The scorching sun did not deter the enthusiasm of the devotees who were patiently lined up in front of Trineshwara swamy temple at Palace premises, which was decorated with golden mask, that is done only once in a year, on Shivaratri day.

It is also the festival of fasting and night vigil and most of the people were fasting, be it in the name of the Lord or for a change of savouring only fruits and  juices and taking a break from the routine food.

Since government holiday was declared for Shivaratri, the temples were a mix of devotees from the youngsters to the aged, offering prayers diligently.

Though the fruits were available at reasonable prices, the prices of the flowers were soaring as a metre of chrysanthemum was sold at Rs 60.

It was surprising to see Mahabaleshwara Swamy temple atop Chamundi hill without queue where as temple of Chamundi had a long one. Bull temple had a considerable rush with devotees  offering prayers to lord Shiva’s ‘Vahana’, Nandi.

Thousands of devotees gathered at the Ganapathi Sachchidananda ashram on Nanjangud Road where the seer himself was seen conducting the pujas. Also in the evening there was a music concert by Kadri Gopalnath.

The Yoganarasimha temple had something unique wherein where the deity Yoganarasimha was decorated as Lord Shiva.

The other popular temples, 108 lingas on Ramanuja road, the Chandramouleshwaraswamy temple on Kalidasa Road and other temples saw a huge crowd. Security has been beefed up at the Palace premises, where there is huge turnout.

The Brahmakumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya in Yadavagiri has also arranged special programmes and darshan of Lord Shiva at its premises.

At Nanjangud

A large number of devotees had descended on Srikanteshwaraswamy temple in Nanjangud, which is considered as Dakshina Kashi. The Kabini river bank was crowded with devotees taking a holy dip in the river before offering prayers to the Lord. Special puja rituals have been organised round the clock as part of Shivaratri.

Many temples have organised mass feeding on Tuesday to complete the day-long fasting.