Fervour marks Sivaratri celebrations

Srisailam: Unprecedented crowds turned out at Srisailam temple on Monday on account of Maha Sivaratri and witnessed the celestial wedding of Lord Siva with his consort Goddess Parvati. According to a conservative estimate, over three lakhs had a darshan of Lord Mallanna at Srisailam.

People from all parts of the country reached Srisailam for the occasion. The crowd started swelling from the morning onwards. Officials allowed only Alankara darsan from Saturday onwards suspending sparsadarshan.

Special queue lines were set up for women with children, widows and physically challenged and swamis on Siva deeksha. The Viswa Hindu Prachara Samiti provided drinking water and butter milk to devotees and milk to children free of cost. The arrangements for this year compared to last year were far better. As part of a ritual to make Siva the bridegroom, the presiding deity was decorated with a headgear.

Kurnool: Heavy turnout of devotees was reported at all Siva pilgrim centres in the Nallamala region-- Srisailam, Mahanandi, Yaganti, Bhogeswaram, Gundla Brahmeswaram, Prathamanandi and Omkaram--which reverberated with devotees chanting of ‘Om Namah Sivaya’ on Monday on account of Sivaratri.

Devotees and those who have taken Siva Deeksha had a holy dip in the temple ponds in the wee hours and lit sacred lamps before they had their darshan of Lord Siva at these centres.

Presiding deity of Mahanandi pilgrimage centre–Maha Nandeeswara–was paraded on Gajavahana and Vrishabhavahana on the third day of the Brahmotsavam celebrations on Monday. Earlier, the temple priest Ravisankara Avadhani performed a shanti homa and conducted a gramotsavam of taking out a procession of the presiding deities through streets near the temple.

Lingodbhava Maha Rudrabhishekam and Kalyanotsavam were performed for the presiding deities.

Chairman of the RGM Educational Institutions Santi Ramudu inaugurated Supatha Mantap, built at a cost of Rs 25 lakh donated by him, in the northern region of the Mahanandi temple. The mantap helps devotees reaching the temple by foot and devotees take rest. He presented silk clothes to the presiding deities and had a darshan of the deities. Later, he took part in the Brahmotsavam celebrations. He and his son Sivaramudu carried the palanquin of the deity for some distance.

Later, talking to media, he said that he had fulfilled his word to the temple executive officer Sankara Varaprasad to donate the Supatha Mantap to the temple building it at a cost of Rs 25 lakh. He congratulated the engineers for executing the mantap in the shortest period of time.

He promised to make an offering of gold covering for Siva lingam in the temple at a cost of Rs 1 crore for the next Brahmotsavam celebrations.

The temple EO thanked Santi Ramudu for responding favorably on donating Supatha Mantap to the temple. MLC Silpa Chakrapani Reddy, former Minister Farooq, Nandyal municipal chairperson Desam Sulochana, divisional forest officers Sivaprasad and Quader Basha and revenue divisional officer Sudhakar Reddy visited the temple and offered prayers. The temple officials and priests extended them a traditional welcome amidst chanting of Vedic hymns.

D Harikishan