The Shiva temples of the holy city were decked up for the Maha Shivaratri which was celebrated with devotion and fervour on Monday. Devotees thronged the legendary temples of Daksh, Bilwakeshwar, Shankar Ashram and Pardeshwar in their thousands since early morning. No temple, big or small, was left out of the celebration. Ganga water was offered on the Shivalingas everywhere. The celebration also marked the end of the fortnight- long Kanwad pilgrimage. Most of the devotees fasted on Monday by way of paying obeisance to the Lord.
“The auspicious period lasted till the evening on Monday. The whole day was thus left for the devotees to visit the temples and offer holy water on the Shivalingas,” said a city- based astrologer Prateek Mishrapuri. Meanwhile, elaborate security measures were made by Haridwar police at the prominent temples of the city for Shivaratri.
Speaking to The Pioneer, SSP Janmejay Khanduri said, “Appropriate security arrangements have been put into place to ensure a glitch-free the Shivaratri snan. A per our report, thousands of devotees took the holy dip on the special day. A drone camera was deployed in the mela zone for vigilance. No person was allowed to enter any Shiva temple without passing through the metal detector.”
As per Hindu mythology, Ganga had the boon from Lord Prajapati that every stone found on her banks would be worshipped in the form of Shivalinga by ‘Shaiv’ devotees. “Thus every stone turned into Shivalinga reflects the glory of the Lord in equal measure,” said a priest of a Shiva temple.
Since early morning, the devotees thronged Har Ki Paidi and other ghats on the Ganga to have a holy dip and then they offered milk to the mother Ganga and did ‘abhishek’ of Shivalingas with panchmarit (drink made of five derivatives from cow’s milk). ‘Bam Bam Bhole’ and Har Har Mahadev’ reverberated through the air of the holy city throughoutthe day.