Kashi reverberates with ‘Har Har Mahadev’

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Kashi reverberates with `Har Har Mahadev'

HT Correspondent

Varanasi, February 26

Lakhs of devotees performed `jalabhishek' at the ancient Kashi

Vishwanath and other Shiv temples throughout the city on the

occasion of Mahashivratri on Sunday. Massive crowds were also

witnessed at other prominent temples of Lord Shiva.

 

A large number of people from Varanasi and its adjoining districts

started thronging the ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple since Saturday

night and formed a long queue to worship Lord Shiva.

 

The door of the temple was opened for the devotees at 4 am on Sunday

after the `Mangla Aarti'.The crowds kept pouring into the Kashi

Vishwanath temple throughout the day on Sunday, till late night. The

district administration had ensured barricading for the smooth

passage of the devotees to perform jalabhishek in and around the

Kashi Vishwanath temple.

 

Anant Narain Singh, son of erstwhile King of Benaras State late

Vibhuti Narain Singh, performed jalabhishek at Gomteshwar Mahadev

temple in Godaulia on Sunday morning.Besides, other prominent temples

including Tilbhandeshwar temple, the BHU-based Vishwanath temple,

Kedareshwar Mahadev temple, Markandeya temple, Mrityunjay Mahadev

temple and Shool Tankeshwar Mahadev were also overcrowded with

devotees. Almost all the big and small temples of Lord Shiva saw long

queues of devotees.

 

Various ghats of the Ganga, including Dashashwamedh ghat, Rajendra

Prasad ghat, Panchganga ghat, Kedar ghat, Tulsi ghat and Assi ghat

were also overcrowded with devotees taking a holy dip in the Ganga

and heading towards temples to perform jalabhishek.An ambience of

religious fervour was evident in the holy city of Kashi, with the

entire city, specially the areas close to the Ganga, echoing with the

chanting of Vedic mantras and religious slogans like "Har Har

MahadevJai Shiv Shanker" etc.Apart from this, several religious

and cultural functions were organised at several temples to mark the

occasion, including Parikrama Darshan of 10 crore mantras of Lord

Shiva at Gandhi Bhavan in Town hall Ground on Sunday.

 

The district administration had made elaborate security arrangements

in and around the Kashi Vishwanath and other temples in view of the

festival.

The entire city had been divided into 28 sectors with one magistrate

each heading a team of policemen.

 

About 15 companies of the PAC and Rapid Action Force and a large

number of policemen had been deployed to maintain order.There were

traffic restrictions on all the roads leading to the Kashi Vishwanath

temple. Bomb disposal squads, fire brigades and local intelligence

sleuths had also been posted to avoid any untoward incident.

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