Bhubaneswar, February 15 Lakhs of devotees thronged Shiva temples across Odisha on Sunday to offer prayers on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.
The temples were decorated with flowers, lights, and earthen lamps, while special security arrangements were made for each shrine to ensure smooth darshan for devotees and the movement of traffic.
Large gatherings of devotees were seen at the Lingaraj temple here, the Dhabaleswar temple in Cuttack, the Kapilash temple in Dhenkanal, the Akhandalamani temple in Bhadrak, Chandaneswar in Balasore, the Huma temple in Sambalpur, the Loknath temple in Puri, Mahendragiri in Gajapati, the Harishankar temple in Bolangir, and the Gupteswar temple in the Koraput district.
The traditional 'Mahadeepa' was scheduled to be raised at different times at the Shiva shrines.
A large number of people queued up at the Lingaraj temple since 4 am to have darshan of Lord Shiva. The 'Mahadeepa' at the Lingaraj temple is expected to be raised at 10 pm tonight, a priest said.
At the Dhabaleswar Temple in the Cuttack district, the 'Mahadeepa' is scheduled to be raised on top of the temple at 1 am.
"We have deployed around 41 platoons of police, and mobilized over 200 officers of different ranks at the Lingaraj temple," Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena told reporters.
Special arrangements have been made for the evening and nighttime, he said.
Similarly, devotees from the Gajapati, Rayagada, and Kandhamal districts, and some adjoining districts of Andhra Pradesh, visited the Mahendragiri hill in Gajapati early in the morning.
Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda said that five platoons of police have been deployed at the hills in view of Maha Shivaratri.
Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, and Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik extended Maha Shivaratri greetings to the people.
