Bhubaneswar: A sea of devotees flocked to Sri Lingaraj Temple here in the evening on Friday on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri to witness the grand spectacle of the raising of the ‘Mahadeepa’ (grand wicker oil lamp) atop the shrine. The Mahadeepa was placed atop the shrine at 10.15 PM on Friday.
Unprecedented vigour and enthusiasm was seen among the devotees when the servitors started climbing the 11th-century shrine with the Mahadeepa at around 10.00 PM on Sunday. Chanting of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, Har Har Mahadev’, and ‘Hari Bol’ and the sound of ‘Hula Huli’ (ululation) filled the air.
Thousands of devotees, who were on a day-long fast, waited patiently inside the temple complex for the final ritual–the raising of the Mahadeepa atop the temple to be over after which they broke their fast.
A serpentine queue of devotees outside the temple extending for at least 1 km or more was seen after priests allowed the ‘Sahan Mela’ (public darshan) of the deity today on completion of ‘alati’ ritual.
The Commissionerate Police had made elaborate arrangements to ensure the smooth passage of the mega religious festival. A tight security blanket was thrown around the temple premises.
Five additional DCPs, 14 ACPs, 21 Inspectors, 84 SI/ASI, 45 APR constables, 48 OR police personnel, 93 section force and 112 home guards were deployed to oversee the security and traffic arrangements.
The Commissionerate Police imposed traffic restrictions in the Old Town area given the rush of devotees. Special barricades were put up for smooth ‘darshan’ by devotees.
Thousands of devotees thronged famous Shiva temples across Odisha like Lokanath temple in Puri, Dhabaleswar Temple in Cuttack, Akhandalamani temple at Aradi in Bhadrak, Kapilash temple in Dhenkanal, Ladu Baba temple in Nayagarh, Gupteswar in Koraput, Vedavyas in Rourkela, Harishankar in Bolangir and other prominent shrines to offer prayers to Lord Shiva.
