Cuttack/Dhenkanal/Puri: Maha Shivratri celebrations began during the wee hours of Saturday at all major Shiva temples in the State, amid religious fervour.
Accompanied by vibrations of sacred chants, the sound of cymbals, drums and devotional music made the atmosphere around these temples pristine.
A long queue of devotees was seen at the world-famous Dhabaleswar peeth, the Shiva shrine on an island in the mighty Mahanadi river.
Athagarh Sub Collector Hemant Kumar Swain said, “For ‘Jagara’ (Maha Shivratri) we have made special arrangements for the devotees and general public. Proper barricading, fair weather road, police deployment, illumination and CCTVs, all kinds of arrangements are in place at Dhabaleswar peeth.”
To ensure an incident-free festival, the local administration has restricted movement on the hanging bridge to Dhableswar island. Devotees are using a fair-weather road connecting the mainland (Cuttack city) with Dhableswar.
In Puri, devotees flocked to Lokanath Temple, where the Shiva Linga is believed to have been installed by Lord Rama. The lingam is always submerged in the water here. The air around the Lokanath temple reverberated with Omm Namah Shivaya chants and mantras.
Similarly, at Kapilash temple in the Dhenkanal district, thousands of devotees thronged the 13th Century shrine, the seat of Lord Chandrasekhar. Devotees either took the 1,300+ steps or the ghat road for the darshan of Lord Shiva at his abode on the loftiest peak of Kapilas range which enshrines the ancient temple.
According to the priest, the ‘Maha Deepa’ will be raised atop Kapilas temple at 4 am in the midnight. Other shrines of Lord Shiva have also been decked up to celebrate the festival in grandeur.
