Mysore/Mysuru: The city reverberated with the chanting of Shivanama on Tuesday as thousands of people thronged Shiva temples for Mahashivarathri festival. The Shivarathri celebrations regained their religious fervour and grandeur after two years, with people standing in long queues to offer prayers. Shivarathri and other festivals were scaled down due to the deadly COVID pandemic, which broke out in March 2020.

Devotees started thronging Shiva temples across the city right from early morning. Various Mutt and temples had organised special pujas, homas and other rituals throughout the day on Tuesday.

Idol of Trineshwaraswamy at Trineshwaraswamy Temple in Palace premises was adorned with 11-kg Golden Mask (Chinnada Kolaga). Devotees were allowed entry to the temple after the first puja in the name of the erstwhile Mysore Maharajas was performed. Titular head of erstwhile Mysore Royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar offered prayers to the deity with his son Aadyaveer Narasimharaja Wadiyar. Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar had offered the Golden Mask to the temple in 1952. The mask is adorned on Trineshwaraswamy idol once a year on Mahashivarathri day. After the festival ended, the mask was brought back to the District Treasury under tight Police security at about 11 am this morning (Mar. 2).

Heavy rush was witnessed at Gurukula on Ramanuja Road yesterday. With thousands of devotees visiting Gurukula and Kamakameshwari Temple close-by, there was heavy vehicular congestion on the stretch of the road. Malaimahadeshwara Temple (M.M. Temple) on Dairy Road witnessed long queues of devotees throughout the day. Pujas and Bhajans were held all through the night till dawn today.

Sri Chandramouleshwara Temple at Matrumandali Circle in Vontikoppal, Amrutheshwara Temple on Dewan’s Road, Prasanna Visweshwaraswamy Temple at Chamarajapuram, Mukkanneshwara Temple on Ashoka Road, Nageshwaraswamy Temple on Bogadi Road, M.M. Temples at Kumbarakoppal and Narayanaswamy Block in Paduvarahalli and all other Shiva temples across the city were brimming with devotees all through the day. Special Pujas were held at Mahabaleshwara Temple atop Chamundi Hill, Suttur Mutt at the foot of Chamundi Hill, Hosamutt at Agrahara, Kuderu Mutt and several other Mutts. Bhajans and devotional songs reverberated throughout the night at some temples, where devotees kept night-long vigil.

Special rituals marked the celebrations at Avadootha Dattapeetha on Nanjangud Road, with Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji conducting Rudrabhisheka to Shiva idol at the temple. Devotees lined up at the Dattapeetha and performed ‘Sahasra Kalabhisheka.’ The celebrations also saw Karnatak and Hindustani music programmes in the evening and  Bhajans and discourses throughout the night.

‘Dwadasha Darshana’ to conclude tonight

Meanwhile, the week-long ‘Dwadasha Jyothirlinga Punya Darshana’ organised by the city’s Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya as part of Mahashivarathri, at Om Shanti Mantapa erected close to Abhishek Circle in Vijayanagar Second Stage will conclude tonight (9 pm) and entry is free.

Mayor Sunanda Palanetra had inaugurated the Darshana on Feb. 24. Visitors can have darshan of 3D Shivalinga, giant Shivalinga made of sand and ‘Shivadrashana Painting’, among other forms of Lord Shiva.

The Prajapitha Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya’s ‘Gyan Sarovar Retreat Centre’ at Lingadevarakoppal near Yelwal on Hunsur Road in city, attracted huge crowds yesterday, with thousands of people from the city and nearby villages flocking the venue to have special darshan of Lord Shiva and ‘Dwadasha Jyothirlinga’.

The festival was celebrated with  traditional grandeur and gaiety at the Centre after a gap of two years due to the COVID pandemic.

The city’s noted Cardiologist Dr. V. Keshavamurthy, Mysuru District Journalists Association (MDJA) President S.T. Ravikumar, BK Lakshmiji, BK Rashmi, BKSharadaji, BK Ranganath and others took part in the celebrations.