City temples reverberate with chants of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’

Hyderabad: Shiva temples across the city echoed with chants of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ and ‘Har Har Mahadeva’ on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, as devotees in large numbers thronged temples to worship Lord Shiva on Wednesday.

From the crack of dawn, lakhs of devotees flocked to Shiva temples and performed special pujas, including Rudrabhishekam, and temple managements made special arrangements for the occasion. All Shiva temples witnessed huge footfall. At Keesaragutta, a popular hill shrine in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, huge queues were witnessed at the abode of Ramalingeswara Swamy. According to the temple authorities, approximately 2 lakh devotees visited the temple and offered abhishekam to a number of lingams on the hillock.

Similarly, a large number of devotees thronged Dakshin ke Badrinath Temple, Medchal to take the blessings of Lord Shiva. Like every year, even this year, Bhavani Temple at Kothapet had installed a Shiva lingam made up of one lakh rudrakshas.

According to several puja committees, the day-long celebrations featured bhajans lasting till midnight as part of the Jagaran held during the festival.

Meanwhile, the police made elaborate arrangements for the festival at the places of worship and to streamline the vehicular movement on roads leading to major temples.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner G Sudheer Babu supervised the arrangements for the Brahmotsavam being held on the occasion of Mahashivratri at the Keesara temple on Wednesday. He also personally administered first-aid to a person who unexpectedly injured his leg on the temple premises. The devotee was immediately sent to the hospital in an ambulance for treatment.

 The police forces of Hyderabad and Cyberabad Commissionerates were also deployed for security duties.

Meanwhile a handful of devotees who offered prayers at Keesaragutta Sri Ramalingeshwara Swamy expressed anger over the district administration’s failure of proper arrangements to ensure hassle-free darshan, alleging preference was only given to VIP devotees.