Thousands throng Siva temples

Eluru: Thousands of devotees thronged the famous Lord Shiva temples in various places of West Godavari district, on the auspicious day of Maha Sivaratri. The famous Pattiseema lord Sri Veereswara Swamy temple on the river bed of Akhanda Gowthami Godavari witnessed thousands of devotees from the wee hours of Friday. The Pancharama Kshetrams, Palacole and Bhimavaram, also witnessed a heavy rush of devotees. Local MLA Nimmala Ramanaidu offered prayers at the temple.

Devotees in hundreds took a holy dip in Tammileru rivulet, to have darshan of Bale Ramalingeswara Swamy temple in Balive village in Krishna District, a Shaiva Kshetra. The officials arranged shower baths in the rivulet, as there was no water in it. Police made arrangements for the parking of vehicles near Vijayarai village. The RTC ran special services to Balive for the convenience of the pilgrims.

Meanwhile, the famous Bhadrakali Sametha Veereswara Swamy temple on the river bed of Godavari at Pattiseema also saw about 75,000 pilgrims since wee hours of Friday from 0100 am to evening. The district administration had arranged launches to reach the temple.

Gopalapuram MLA Muppidi Venkateswara Rao, along with pilgrims visited the temple and offered prayers to the Lord Veereswara Swamy. District SP Bhaskar Bushan visited the temple performed Abhishekham to Lord Veereswara Swamy.

Around 40,000 pilgrims had darshan at the Lord Someswara Janardhana Swamy temple, at Gunupudi in Bhimavaram. Rajya Sabha Member Thota Sitaramalakshmi, MLA P Ramanjaneyulu, former MLA Grandhi Srinivas had darshan and offered prayers. The Temple Executive Officer N Satish Kumar supervised the arrangements at the temple. Hundreds of pilgrims visited the famous Achateswar Swamy Temple at Achanta from the wee hours of Friday. Achanta MLA Pitani Satyanarayana and his wife Anantalakshmi performed special Abhishekam to Lord Achanteswara on the banks of River Vasistha.