Maha Sivaratri celebrated with religious fervour in Nandyal and Kurnool districts

Devotees walking to Srisailam temple to offer prayers on the occasion of Maha Sivaratri in Nandayal district on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: U. SUBRAHMANYAM

Maha Sivaratri was celebrated across Nandyal and Kurnool districts, particularly in Srisailam, with devotion on Wednesday. Thousands of devotees took holy dips at the ghats of river Krishna and other water bodies, and offered prayers at Shaivaite temples.

In Srisailam, a series of rituals were held since early morning. According to temple officials, ‘Lingodbhava Kaala Mahanyasapoorvaka Maharudrabhisekham’ was performed at night. Meanwhile, ‘abhisekham’ for four hours amid chants of ‘Rudra Mantra’ by 11 eminent Vedic pundits and priests will be held later at night. The abhisekam will be performed with the water from the ‘Mallikarjuna Gundam’ in the temple premises and ‘Panchamrutam’.

Later, ‘Pagalankarana’ ritual will also be performed, where ‘pagas’ (turban) would be tied from the ‘Vimana Shikaram’ to all the Nandi idols on the temple by a priest, officials said. This ritual would be performed after removing all the lights, they said. After Pagalankarana, the ‘Kalyanotsavam’ will be conducted at 12 midnight.

Meanwhile, the elaborate arrangements saw the smooth conduct of the festivities on the important day of the 11-day Brahmotsavams. The police department had installed 29 surveillance cameras in addition to the 580 CCTVs that were already in place in the temple town. As part of security arrangements, the police had installed 20 Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras, four people counting cameras and three vehicle number plate detecting cameras, and monitored the festivities from the command control room, where 21 LED televisions were installed.

The people counting cameras were installed at the main temple, queue lines of Siva Deeksha devotees, Kailasa Dwaram and Annaprasadam complex. The police reunited three children who went missing at various places in the temple town with their parents with the help of the CCTVs.

The temple management had also made arrangements for water, food, and sanitation in the queue complexes and also for the pilgrims trekking the Nallamala forests to reach Srisailam. The Maha Sivaratri Brahmotsavams will be held till March 1.

The temple management is providing 30 lakh gallons of water to the temple town everyday and had arranged 30 storage tanks, 34 RO plants and 450 water taps to supply water. Water was provided on the stairway from Bheemuni Kolanu to Kailasadwaram by laying a temporary pipeline.

Apart from Srisailam, Maha Sivaratri festivities were held in all the Shaivaite temple in Nandyal and Kurnool districts. Devotees thronged to Mahanadeeswara temple at Mahanandi, Nagareswara Swamy temple in Kurnool, Bugga Rameswara Swamy temple in Kalvabugga, and the temples at Yaganti, Omkaram, and Rudrakoduru. Long queue lines were witnessed at all the temples, which were decorated beautifully for the festival.