Siva temples bedecked for grand fest today

​Nirmal: The Papahareswara temple, situated in the dense forest area at Kadili village in the district. The temple is bedecked for conducting Shivaratri celebrations. The temple officials have made elaborate arrangements for the three-day festivities to be held on the occasion from Friday.

According to a legend, the idol of Goddess Annapurna here is akin to the image at the famed Vishwanatha temple at Varanasi. The main entrance of the temple is aligned towards the West, unlike other temples. Devotees having a darshan of the deity here will be absolved of their sins and difficulties caused by the adverse position of Saturn in their zodiac. Parashurama could absolve of his sin of murdering his mother by installing 32 Shiva lingams, the first one in Kais temple and the last one at the temple in Kaila.

Since the temple absolves people of their sins, it is called as Papahareshwara temple. The idol of Lord Shiva is situated here on the temple Gopuram unlike in other temples, where the Shiva Linga is located in the sanctum-sanctorum. People believe that sages perform pujas during the night.

In Bodhan, the famous ancient Ekachakreshwara Swamy temple of Lord Shiva in the town has been fully decked up for the Maha Shivarathri celebrations to be held on Friday. The temple authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the convenience of the large number of devotees who will throng the temple.

According to legend, Maharishi Sandilya used to recite Vedas at the temple along with his disciples and conduct several religious rituals to appease Lord Shiva.

During the regime of the Kakatiya rulers, the Shiva lingam was hidden underground to protect it from the attack of invaders. Devotees also visit this temple from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. According to mythological sources, the Shiva lingam was installed by Parashurama, one of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. Childless couples come here to pray for begetting children.