All the Shiva temples were reverberating with the chanting of om namah shivaya , hara hara mahadeva on the occasion of Mahashivarathri in various parts of Karimnagar district on Thursday.
There was heavy surge of pilgrims at Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy devasthanam (also known as Dakshin Kashi) in Vemulawada since Wednesday. The devotees formed serpentine queues since early hours after taking a holy dip in the dharmagundam .
Government Whip Arepalli Mohan, DCCB chairman K. Ravinder Rao offered silk vastrams on behalf of the state government. Devasthanam chairman Bomma Venkateshwar and the temple authorities accorded a traditional welcome to the dignitaries.
Special prayers would be held at the temple shrine on Thursday evening.
Similarly, Sri Kaleshwara Muktheshwara Swamy devasthanam in Kaleshwaram of Mahadevpur mandal also witnessed heavy pilgrims rush.
People took holy dip in the river Godavari and offered prayers at the shrine.
Karimnagar range DIG RB Naik had offered prayers at the shrine. It is learnt that the public faced several problems in having darshan following the authorities according priority for the VIPs.
Other Shiva shrines were also packed with the devotees in various parts of Karimnagar district, including Karimnagar town.