Unmindful of the harmful effects of crowding on the spread of the deadly COVID, devotees thronged Shiva temples across the State in large numbers on Maha Shivaratri since the early hours of Thursday. The temples reverberated with chants of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ throughout the day.
Queues
Most of the devotees wore the safety masks but no safeguards against moving close to each other were followed.
Even the temple authorities made no effort to enforce distancing between people. The queues in front of temples and scenes of rituals performed at the idols explained how the safeguards were given a go by.
The crowd at Rajarajeswara Swamy temple at Vemulawada was as usual huge as it marks the beginning of the annual five-day event to celebrate the celestial marriage of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. After rituals on Thursday, the Shiva Parvathulu (brides of Shiva) practice their traditional marriage with Lord Shiva by adorning themselves as brides.
They carry tridents (trishul) along with a bell and flowers, place jaggery and jeera mixtures on their heads and wear a yellow thread around their neck.
Endowments Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy offered silk clothes to the deity on behalf of the government. The Endowments Commissioner Anil Kumar and Sircilla Collector Krishna Bhaskar were present.
Labour Minister Ch. Malla Reddy and Rajya Sabha member of TRS J. Santosh Kumar were among the early visitors to the Ramalingeswara Swamy temple at Keesara.
The Thousand Pillar temple at Hanamkonda, where Lord Shiva goes by the name Rudreswara Swamy, witnessed steady visitors throughout the day. Panchayat Raj Minister E. Dayakar Rao presented clothes to the deity.
Finance Minister T. Harish Rao presented clothes at Durga Bhavani temple at Edupayala in Medak district. Health Minister Eatala Rajender offered special prayers at a temple at Bornapalli village in Huzurabad mandal on Thursday.
