The Hindu festival of Mahashivratri falls during the month of Magha. This year, Mahashivratri takes place today, Saturday, February 18. On Saturday, devotees offered prayers at Shiva temples across the country during Maha Shivratri. The festival is celebrated throughout India and is considered one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals. On this day, everyone in the country chants ‘HarHar Mahadev.’
Thousands of devotees also offered prayers at Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. On Saturday morning, many residents of Delhi went to temples, including the Jhandewalan, to celebrate and offer prayers to Lord Shiva. A crowd also gathered at the Jharkhandi Mahadev Temple to witness Yogi Adityanath’s prayers on Mahashivratri. There was also a rush of devotees seeking blessings from Lord Shiva in temples in Jammu. As part of the celebrations, devotees visited Amritsar’s Shivala Bagh Bhaiyan temple to pray. Kedarnath Dham is an exception, though, as the shrine is off-limits to worshippers during the colder months.
It is expected that long queues will form outside all the Shiva temples across the cities as devotees arrive at the temples by dawn on Saturday. Meanwhile, the organisers urged locals to respect the rules and stay in lines to ensure that all worshippers were accommodated. Several temple managements have also hired private security to ensure law and order outside temples.