With only a few hours left for the Maha Sivaratri, temples across the district wore a festive look and are geared up for the mega event, falling on March 1 (Tuesday).
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While small temples celebrate the Brahmotsavams, an annual event, for three-to-five days, for famous temples like Moghili, Srikalahasti and Surutupalle the celebrations last up to three weeks.
The Brahmotsavams of Lord Pallikondeswara at Surutupalle in Nagalapuram mandal, a few meters away from the Tamil Nadu border, draw huge crowds from Chennai and other parts of the border areas. Talakona also sees a large numbers of devotees from not only Chittoor district but also from Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
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Transport services
Officials of the APSRTC Chittoor region had earlier announced that over 700 special services would be operated from the early hours of Monday covering all the important Siva temples in the district and also the peripheral areas of Kadapa and Nellore districts.
In coordination with the Tamil Nadu transport services, special buses were also kept ready from Chittoor and Tirupati towards Vellore for the convenience of devotees going to Tiruvannamalai.
District Child Protection Officer Siva Sankar said that special teams consisting of the officials from the Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS), revenue, and police personnel would be posted at Srikalahasti temple and its surroundings on March 3 to prevent performance of child marriages, common among rural families during the Sivaratri season.
He said that in 2020, over 130 child marriages were stopped by the ICDS officials alone in Chittoor district. He said that the number had come down drastically in 2021, when it stood below 40, followed by two cases since January 2022.