Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Mar 7: Maha Shivratri -the great night of Lord Shiva was celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety across the Jammu region today with lakhs of devotees drawn from different areas thronging various Shiv temples to pay obeisance to the Lord from early morning.
Thousands of devotees thronged the holy Ranbireshwar temple here from early in the morning to perform special Pooja of Lord Shiva.
Though rush of devotees was normal during the wee hours, it swelled as the day progressed and continued up to late in the night. The devotees offered flowers, Bel leaves, milk, curd, etc to Lord.
Today’s Maha Shivratri has a special religious significance as it came on Monday which is considered the day of Lord Shiva as per Hindu mythology, said Mahant Rishi Ban of Mahant of Ranbireshwar temple. He said this year Shivratri came after 12 years on Monday.
A Bhajan Sandhiya was held from 2 pm to 6-30 pm in the temple premises and bhandaras were served to devotees. The entire Ranbireshwar temple was specially decorated by the devotees on the occasion.
Thousands of devotees also visited the ‘Aap Shambu’ temple at Roop Nagar on the occasion of Maha Shivratri today. There was a huge rush of devotees in the temple from late last night and it continued up to late tonight also.
The devotees were seen in long queues from the temple complex to Green belt park Roop Nagar waiting for their turn of darshan. There was such a huge rush as the serpentine queues of devotees started late last night. Due to the rush many devotees returned without performing darshan in the holy temple. The traffic jam was also witnessed on Bantalab -Janipur road during the day.
Huge rush of devotees was seen at Peer Kho temple in Old City area, Shiv Temples near Tawi bridge and near Rajinder Park where thousands of devotees also visited to offer special prayers of Lord on the occasion of Maha Shivratri today. A large number of devotees also thronged Tri Murti Mandir Janipur Colony to participate in the Maha Shivratri celebrations.
Reports coming from Ramban said that Maha Shivratri was also celebrated with full religious fervour and enthusiasm there. A large number of devotees gathered at the premises of Shiv Mandir Maitra to celebrate the holy festival. A Shoba yatra (Shiv Barat) was also taken out from Prachin Shiv Mandir Maitra. The Shiv Barat, was taken on fully decorated vehicles. The Shoba Yatra visited through main localities and temples of the town. The devotees were singing bhajans in praise of Lord Shiva enroute. They were also dancing to the tune of beating drums. People enroute showered flowers on Shoba yatra. A Bhandara was also organized by Sanatan Dharam Shava Maitra. Among other prominent people MLA Ramban was also present on the occasion.
The Maha Shivratri was also celebrated with fervour and gaiety across the Chenab Valley here today. Thousands of devotees thronged the various temples to worship Lord Shiva and Parvati. But famous Gupt Ganga Temple in Bhaderwah witnessed the huge rush.
All Shiv Temples in Chenab Valley including Pirsthan Shiv Temple Bhaderwah, 12 Jotri Ling Shiv Temple Parnalla, Shiv temple Nagari Doda, Shiv temple Prem Nagar, Shiv temple Thatri, Shiv temple Kishtwar and Shiv Cave Baggar were beautifully decorated on the occasion by devotees.
Reports said that devotees had started thronging the temples in the wee hours and serpentine queues were seen outside all the temples as devotees had to wait for darshan till their turn. However, as part of their tradition the Kashmiri Pandits putting up in Bhaderwah, Kishtwar and Doda celebrated the Shivratri in their houses.
But the PDD came to severe criticism from the devotees as people faced complete black out in the evening on the holy festival.
Shivratri was also celebrated at Udhampur with great charm. Khoon in Majalta tehsil of Udhampur district witnessed huge congregation at Khooneshwar ‘Aap Shambu’ Temple to observe 11th annual Maha Shivratri-cum_Grameen mela.
The mela was organized by Destitute and Handicapped Welfare Association (DAHWA) in collaboration with district administration Udhampur, Information Department and Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL). Thousands of devotees paid obeisance at this historic ancient temple to seek blessings of Lord Shiva.
Maha Shivratri was celebrated with great enthusiasm and religious fervour at Shiv Kohri near Reasi today. Amidst the chanting of religious slogans the devotees in large numbers thronged the shrine and offered special prayers. A grand Shiv Khori mela was also organized by district administration Reasi, Shri Shiv Khori Shrine Board (SSKSB) and Tourism Department on the occasion of Maha Shivratri at Ransoo, base camp of the holy shrine.
Langers and Bhandaras were arranged for the pilgrims and according to Executive Officer of SSKSB, Mahesh Sharma about 1,07,453 devotees have paid obeisance at the Shrine so far and yatra was going smoothly.
Besides, thousands of devotees thronged the ‘Aap Shambu’ temple Mahadev Reasi from early in the morning to perform Shivratri pooja.
Over 1.50 lakh devotees paid obeisance in various Shiv temples across the Kathua district from late last night. As per reports 15000 devotees drawn from different areas paid obeisance at Pracheen Shiv temple Billawar while 30,000 devotees paid obeisance at Jakhol Shiv cave in Rajbagh, 11000 devotees performed darshan at Shiv temple Basohli, 12,000 at Airwan Shiv temple in Nagri tehsil, 12000 in Maha Kaleshwar temple in Kathua and 10,000 in Jandi Shiv temple in Hiranagar tehsil while over 60,000 thousand devotees visited other Shiv temples in various parts of Kathua district.
A large number of devotees drawn from different parts of Poonch and Rajouri thronged the Buda Amarnath shrine in Mandi tehsil on the occasion of Maha Shivratri today and paid obeisance there. Besides, huge rush of devotees was witnessed in old Shiv Temple at Poonch city from late last night which continued today also. The devotees participated in special pooja held on the occasion.
At Mendhar a Shoba Yatra was taken out on the occasion of holy festival by the Sanatan Dharam Sabha (SDS) in which people from all communities including prominent Muslims and Sikhs also participated to maintain traditional brotherhood and secular ethos.
There was a huge rush of devotees in ancient Shiv Temple at Rajouri where hundreds of devotees drawn from different parts of the town visited and paid obeisance to Lord Shiva.
Reports coming from other parts of Rajouri district said that Shivratri was celebrated with full religious fervour and gaiety at Kalakote, Sunderbani, Nowshera and other parts of the district.
As Kashmiri Pandits putting up in Valley performed Shivratri Pooja in a traditional way at their residences during last night, the Advisor to Governor and member State Administrative Council, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai including Deputy Commissioner , Srinagar, Farooq Ahmed Lone along with other senior officers visited Sidhi Vinayak temple, Ganpatyar and Shri Gopi Nath Ji Ashram Kharyar in Habba Kadal area of the city to meet the members of KP community living in the Old City area and took the stock of the arrangements made by the divisional administration for hassle free celebration of Maha Shivratri.
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