By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/PURI/DHENKANAL: Tens of thousands of devotees were on Friday morning throng to Shiv Temples across the State on occasion of Maha Shiv Ratri. Since morning lakhs of devotees were gathered in Bhubaneswar to offer prayer at Lord Lingaraj Temple.
In Bhubaneswar, the administration focused on enhancing the beauty of Lingaraj Temple on Mahashivratri by decorating the centuries old shrine with flowers. Due to eviction of encroached structures, the devotees found space enough for free movement around the temple.
Early in the morning, the devotees made a beeline for hours with varieties of flowers, bael (wood apple) leaves, coconuts, raw milk and fruits to enter into the temple and to offer those to Lord Shiva.
In other major Shiv Temples at Dhenkanal, Puri, Bhadrak, Balasore, Koraput also wore festive look.
People are visiting Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar, Loknath in Puri, Dhabaleswar Peeth in Cuttack, Akhandalmani in Bhadrak, Panchalingeswar in Balasore, Chandrasekhar at Kapilas in Dhenkanal, Ladukeshwar in Nayagarh and Gupteshwar in Koraput.
Flowers worth Rs 15 lakh have been used for decorating Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar.About 20 types of flowers are used for the decoration, said an official of the temple administration.
Special security and parking arrangements are also in place for devotees for Mahashivratri 2020.
Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahoo informed that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the Mahashivratri at Lingaraj Temple.“About 30 platoons forces have been deployed for crowd management as we expect a large number of devotees due to the recent beautification of the temple,” said the DCP.
Mahashivratri, the most significant event for people especially in Hindu community, falls on the Chaturdashi (14th day) of Krushna Paksha (waning moon phase) in Phalguna month as per the Hindu lunar calendar. The night on Mahashivratri is also called Jagar when the devotees with fasting throughout day stay awake entire night and chant holy mantras of Lord Shiva to have blessings.
