Ujjain : Mahashivaratri was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety across the holy city on Tuesday. Shrines and ancient temples of Lord Shiva witnessed a heavy rush of devotees. All shrines of Lord Shiva, including ancient temples were adorned with colourful lights and buntings.
The temples witnessed huge rush as devotees in thousands thronged to offer prayers since early morning.
The approach roads to the temple were decorated with colourful paper designs. Even at some of the Vaishnavite monasteries, the God was worshipped with pomp and gaiety. Thousands of devotees flocked every Shiva temple and waited for hours in queues to pay homage to the Lord, one of the trinities of the Hindu mythology.
Great enthusiasm was seen among the devout Hindus, especially women, to pay their obeisance to the Lord. People offered belpatra, water, milk, ghee, sandalwood paste, flowers, honey, saffron, dhatura, etc, on the Shivalinga as mark of their reverence.
Tableaus depicting Shiv Baraat went through the streets with people jostling to have a glimpse. Devotees also took a holy dip at banks of holy river Kshipra. Serpentine queues were seen at the famous Lord Shiva temples such as Chhote Mahakal of Freeganj area. Special prayers were held.
Many devotees observed a fast on the day. At some places, devotees had a verbal spat with policemen owing to the delay in paying obeisance at temples and other shrines. A large number of social organisations and devotees of Lord Shiva also organised ‘bhandara’ or community kitchens outside city temples. There were reports of celebrations from several other temples in the township also. Devotees started to pour in at the temple from the wee hours of the morning. People accompanied with their children and grand-children went to various temples of Lord Shiva to seek blessings. Small children had put-up stalls of flowers, sweets, fruits and bilva patras outside these temples. There was a good sale of milk packets as offering milk to Lord Shiva on Shivaratri is considered pious. Bhajan-kirtan programmes were organised. Temples were beautifully decorated and people offered prayers as per their rituals. Thousands of devotees thronged various temples to worship Lord Shiva and Parvati.
In their bid to make the day even more special, the temple committees left no stone unturned to ensure the beautification of temple premises. It was the day of festivity for Shiva devotees in the city. Mahashivratri was celebrated with religious fervour at all places in the city.
