Ujjain: The festival of Mahashivratri was celebrated with much fanfare at Shri Mahakaleshwar temple on Friday. Thousands of devotees reached at the temple from across the nation and paid obeisance to lord Mahakal. As per the district administration and Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee (MTMC), over two lakh pilgrims paid obeisance to lord Mahakal.
Devotees form queue from Thursday night
Devotees queued up at the temple premises from Thursday night and finally got entry in the morning after ‘bhasmarti’. For the facility of devotees the MTMC curbed entry to the sanctum of the temple. The queue for general devotees started from Harsiddhi Temple square. According to reports in the first time in history the queues of devotees reached till Gopal Mandir area.
VIPs, public representatives perform worship
On the occasion of Mahashivratri, many VIPs paid obeisance to lord Mahakal. According to reports PM Narendra Modi’s wife Jasodaben, district in-charge minister Sajjan Singh Verma performed worship from Nandi Hall of the temple. State’s home minister Bala Bachchan, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvergiya, former Union minister Uma Bharti, Indore High Court Judge Rohit Arya, ADG Maithili Sharan Gupt, MLA Ramlal Malviya and Dilip Gurjar also paid obeisance to lord Mahakal.
State government donates Rs 11,000 for worship
The state government donated Rs 11000 to MTMC for performing worship on its behalf. The amount was handed over by in charge minister Sajjan Singh Verma to the MTMC following which the worship of lord Mahakal was performed. Divisional commissioner Ajeet Kumar along with wife, IG Rakesh Gupta with his wife, collector Shahshank Mishra with his wife Ruchivardhan (Indore DIG) DIG Manish Kapuriya and SP Sachin Atulkar performed customary official worship in the afternoon.
Administration claims for adequate arrangements
District administration and MTMC claimed to have made adequate arrangements on this occasion in relation to serving potable water, medical camps at the temple premises with doctors, ambulances, proper lighting, makeshift toilets and sanitation. According to sources, the senior officials were monitoring the arrangements with their subordinates. Divisional commissioner Ajit Kumar, IG Rakesh Gupta, collector Shashank Mishra, SP Sachin Atulkar, and temple administrator SS Rawat kept close eyes on the arrangements made for devotees and paid obeisance to lord Mahakal.
UMC’s appreciable arrangements
According to Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) officials, the civic body made appreciable arrangements on the occasion of Mahashivratri. They informed that concerned officials under the guidance of municipal commissioner Rishi Garg were taking stock of arrangements at Mahakaleshwar temple premises, Narsing Ghat, Chaardham temple, Ramghat and other principal areas of the city in view of the festival. Arrangements related to drinking water, encroachment removal, road washing and curbing of stray cattle were carried out under the strict observation of the commissioner.
Bhasmarti to be performed in noon today
Bhasmarti will be performed in noon on Saturday at Mahakaleshwar temple as on 6 am on the same day Sehara Arti will be performed with offering Sehra to lord Mahakal. The Sehara would be removed on 11 am and thereafter the Bhasmarti will be performed.
Nandi hall decorated on South Indian pattern
The inner decoration of the temple was made by South Indian pattern. According to Pt Pradeep Guru the sanctum and Nandi Hall was decorated with different types of flowers beautifully by South Indian designers.
Shiva worshiped across the city
Mahashivratri was celebrated at ISKCON temple. Temple Management committee head Prem Bhakti Das worshiped lord Shiva in morning hours. Similarly, the festival of Shivratri was celebrated at Juna Mahakal temple located in Mahakaleshwar temple premises, lord Mahakal was decorated beautifully and ubtan was offered to him. Similarly at the temple located at Yogeshwar Tekri devotees distributed faryali porridge. Mahashivratri was also celebrated at the Shiv Temple at Alakhadham located Sai Temple with fanfare. Management committee’s functionaries Ramesh Kumar Parwal, Prakash Singhal and Hukumchand Soni said that lord Shiva was decorated in the form of groom and hundreds of devotees participated in religious programmes performed there. Similarly at Pashupatinath Temple hundreds of devotees offered worship and many social organisations distributed pudding to devotees.
/Boreshwar Mahadev Yatra taken out/ (P16)
Devotees took out a religious procession from Shri Mahakaleshwar temple to Boreshwar Shiv temple. The procession is taken out every year under guidance of legislator Mohan Yadav. Water of Koti-Teerth pond located at Shri Mahakaleshwar temple premises was offered to Boreshwar Mahadev. District BJP head Vivek Joshi, Karan Singh Anjana, Rameshchandra Verma, MP Drug and Chemist association head OM Jain, Ashok Prajapat and others were present during the procession.
Earthen Shivligams worshipped
According to Gayatri Shaktipeeth head Devendra Shrivastava, more than 50 devotees made earthen Shivlingams and performed worship. Shrivastava said that giving up addiction is the real worship of lord Shiva.
Triveni Museum holds ‘Sanatan Ka Samkal’
Triveni Museum organised a programme ‘Sanatan Ka Samkal’ to celebrate the festival. The festival will last till Sunday. On the first day a lecture series was organised in which key orator Dr Baldevanand Sagar shared his views on the rapport of Shiv and Shakti. The programme was presided over by Dr Kedarnarayan Joshi. The programme was inaugurated in presence of president Zila Panchayat Karan Kumariya and Dr Shiv Chourasiya. The audience enjoyed programme of classical dances and hymns. The gratitude was expressed by in charge officials Awadhesh Shrivastava.
Devotees hospitalised due to over dose of hemp
According to Mahakal police, 3 devotees fell unconscious due to over dose of hemp (Bhang) and fell sick. On worsening condition, they were rushed to the hospital on Friday morning. According to hospital they are recovering gradually.
Theft reported
Miscreants taking the advantage of heavy rush at the temple premises stole purses and mobile phones of the devotees. According to sources, some lodged complaints with the police.
Car stolen from Narsing Ghat
A car of devotees parked at Narsing Ghat was stolen while the owner was standing in queue. Car owner Bansilal Rathore resident of Harda, lodged the complaint about his stolen car (MP 04 BC 0535). The police registered an FIR in the matter and started investigation.
Heavy traffic seen on Ujjain Indore highway
Indore-Ujjain highway witnessed heavy traffic of two wheelers and four wheelers due to Mahashivratri on Friday. However, heavy traffic on Agar Road, Maksi Road, and Barnagar road was also seen.
