A sea of devotees thronged Siva temples in the city and other parts of the district to offer prayers on the occasion of Maha Sivaratri on Friday.
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The temples reverberated with chants of ‘Om Namah Siva’ as devotees in large numbers took part in special pujas, including Rudra homams. Mahnyasa Abhishekam, Rudra Abhishekam and other rituals were performed at many temples, including Sivalayam top Indrakeeladri, Patha Sivalayam, Challapalli Bungalow Sivalayam, Yanamalakuduru, Sri Vagdevi Aadhyatmika Kshetram and Sri Datta Sai Sarva Siddhi Ganapathi Maha Samstan.
The celebrations began with a holy dip in the Krishna. The bathing ghats in the city, especially the Durga Ghat on the Krishna, teemed with thousands of devotees who had come for a holy dip in the early hours of Friday. Jamgama Devaras blessed the devotees at the ghats. The shrines were decorated with ‘thoranams' and ‘mandapams' and the flexi boards of Lord Siva and his consort Parvathi Devi were erected at several places. The temples managements made elaborate arrangements to facilitate darshan for pilgrims attending Sivarathri utsavams.
Siva-Parvati Kalyanam was organised by Sri Durga Mallesewara Swamy temple priests. The temple priests performed abhishekams from 5 a.m. to Lingodbhava Kala. Later, they performed Lingodbhava Lala Abhishekam and Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Kalyanam.
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Descendents of Siva Bhakta Markandeya lineage presented handloom robes to the presiding deities. It has been a tradition for them to present the handloom robes every year on Sivaratri. They brought the robes, bangles and flowers in bamboo plates.
Thousands of devotees waited patiently in queues for darshan at the Sri Ramalingeswara Swami temple in Yanamalakuduru, from the early hours of Friday. Traffic was also diverted by the police for the convenience of the devotees. It was a visual feast for the devotees as they took in the Prabha Mahotsavam at the Yanamalakuduru Siva temple. This has been a special attraction of the celebrations for years.