Devotees throng temples to mark Maha Shivaratri

KURNOOL/CHITTOOR: Lakhs of pilgrims thronged Sri Brahmarambha Mallikarjuna Swamy and Srikalahasteeswara temples amid strict Covid-19 guidelines on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri on Thursday.Also, Mahanadeeswara temple at Mahanandi, Nagareswara Swamy temple in Kurnool, Bugga Rameswara Swamy temple in Kalvabugga, Jagganatha temple at B Tandrapadu, Easwara temple in Yaganti and others in Mogili, Sadasivakona, Kailasakona and Mukkoti witnessed a huge turnout of devotees. 

It may be noted that the festival is celebrated as part of the Brahmotsavams at Srisailam. The utsavams will conclude on March 14. Kurnool collector G Veerapandian and SP K Fakeerappa, with their families visited the Srisailam temple for darshan of the presiding deities. Temple executive officer KS Rama Rao had made special arrangements for their visits. At Srisailam, the devotees waited for more than six hours to have darshan of the presiding deities, and take a holy dip in Patala Ganga with a belief that it would absolve them of their sins. 

In the evening, cultural programmes were organised on the temple premises, which attracted many.At Srikalahasti temple in Chittoor district, the auspicious ‘lingodbhava darshan’ was expected to start after the midnight. Special abhishekams were to be performed to the presiding deity. The shrine was kept open for the devotees from 2.30 am after predawn rituals. To facilitate quick darshan, the temple committee cancelled all arjitha sevas, including the Rahu Kethu pujas, for the day and provided maha laghu darshan for all the devotees. 

The temple committee made arrangements to provide drinking water, food, milk, buttermilk free of cost to the devotees in the queue lines. Besides, first aid teams were stationed at several places. Members of the temple committee and volunteers had a tough time managing the pilgrims. Heavy security was arranged to avoid any untoward incidents. Earlier, serpentine queue lines and heavy rush resulted in traffic snarls at Srikalahasti, especially around the temple. Traffic restrictions were immediately clamped and vehicles were not allowed into the town.