Several devotees thronged temples of Lord Siva- the Sri the Trikoteswara Swamy Devastanam temple at Kotappakonda, the Sri Amareswara Swamy Devastanam temple in Amaravathi and temples at Govada and Pedakakani on Maha Sivaratri on Thursday.
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao offered ‘pattu vastralu’ to the presiding deity at the Sri Trikoteswara Swamy temple atop Kotappakonda near Narasaraopet.
An estimated 7 lakh devotees thronged the hill shrine near Narsaraopet.
Security arrangements
The sight of the devotees making a beeline for the hill shrine of Kotappakonda was spectacular.
The police led by Superintendent of Police S.V. Rajasekhar Babu made security arrangements.
The surge of devotees that began in the early hours peaked towards the evening.
Classical rendition
A classical rendition by Mudala Srivalli of devotional hymns on Mahasivaratri marked the festivities. The programme was organised by the Gopi Music Academy.
Srivalli began by singing ‘Om Mahaprana deepam’ and she later sang ‘Nithyatmudai ..... Om Sivam.’
Singers Sriram, Sailaja and Aishwarya sang devotional numbers. Sai was on tabla, keyboard was by Laxman.