Telangana soaks in Shiva devotion

Hyderabad: The exuberant nightlong festival of Mahashivartri was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety in the State. It is a day when unique planetary positions take place where there is a natural upsurge of energy within the human system.

Temples in the State reverberated with chants of "Chidananda Roopa Sivoham Sivoham", and "Om Namah Shivaya" as scores of devotees thronged to Shaivite temples right from wee hours of Saturday. The major temples in the State were seen buzzing with thousands of devotees waiting for their time to perform Abhishekam. Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy offered silk clothes to Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy in Vemulawada in the Rajanna Sircilla district.

The devotees had to face inconvenience with the visit of the VIPs. The authorities were seen drenched in welcoming the VIPs as it took almost seven hours to have darshan. The devotees standing in long queues said that they came into the queue at 2 am but they could not get darshan even after 11 am. Silk clothes were also sent by the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy. The major Shiva temples in erstwhile Warangal district like Sri Rudreshwaralayam in the Thousand Pillar Temple, Sri Someshwara Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Palakurthy, Sri Rudreshwara Swamy Temple (Ramappa) were seen full of devotees. Minister E Dayakar Rao offered silk clothes at Rudreshwara Swamy Temple and later participated in the Kalyanotsavam.

The other major temples, including Sri Uma Maheshwara Swamy Temple at Achampet and Sri Someshwara Lalithambika in Kollapur, Sri Ketaki Sangameshwara Swamy Temple at Zhara Sangam in Medak, Sri Chaya Someshwara Swamy Temple in Nalgonda also witnessed huge crowd. 

The devotees had sacred baths at the rivers and ponds near the temple premises. Sri Ramalingeshwara Swamy temple at Keesaragutta witnessed heavy rush of devotees. Similar scenes were witnessed in city temples like Sri Jhamsingh Balaji Venkateshwara Swamy, Shivala Ghat near Purnapull, Kashibugga Temple at Kishan Bagh, Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Gowliguda and others. Later in the night, as part of the Maha Shivaratri celebrations, 'Kalyanotsavam' was performed. Rathotsavam would be taken up on Sunday and Teppotsavam on Monday.