Maha Shivaratri: Bands to keep devotees awake

Coimbatore: Popular folk fusion band Kabir Café that exclusively performs verses of Sant Kabir will join the chorus of devotees at the annual Maha Shivaratri celebrations at Isha Yoga Center here through Thursday night and Friday morning. Playback singer Karthik will also share the stage with musicians from all over the world.
The celebrations will begin at 6pm and go on till 6am. Kabir Café will be jamming with drummers from Lebanon. Folk musician Anthony Dasan, Gujarati playback singers Parthiv Gohil and Aditha Gadvi will also lend their voice to celebrate the night.
The ceremonies will start off with pancha bhuta aradhana at dhyanalinga and initiation with abhaya sutra, a consecrated thread. Brahmacharis will bring purified soil from the Velliangiri mountains and fire lit using ghee made from cow’s milk and offer them to the Shiva idol. All visitors will be offered food as part of maha annadhanam. They will also be offered sarpa sutra, a copper ring believed to stabilize the body and provide support for spiritual practices and rudraksh adorning the Adiyogi.
The centre has arranged buses from all districts to ferry devotees for the event, an Isha spokesperson said.
The event, which usually sees dignitaries, will be attended by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and family this year. Naidu will land in the city at 2.30pm tomorrow and reach the centre by road. He will stay through the night and fly out of the city at 8.30am on Friday.
With lakhs of people from across the world, including politicians and film stars, expected to attend the event, as many as 4,500 policemen from Coimbatore and Tirupur will be deployed on the route from the airport to the centre.