Nearly 30 lakh devotees took the holy dip at Har-ki-Pauri here on the occasion of Shivaratri, the fifth snan of Ardh Kumbh Mela, on Monday.
The Maha Shivaratri falling on Monday had made the festival all the more auspicious. The Shiva temples of the holy city were illuminated. Devotees thronged the legendary temples of Daksh, Bilwakeshwar and Pardeshwar temples. No temple, big or small, was left out where Ganga water was not offered on the Shivalinga.
However, the security was tight. No pilgrim or local was allowed to enter the temples without passing through the metal detectors.
Hindu mythology has it that Ganga had a boon from lord Prajapati that every stone on its banks would be worshipped in the form of Shivalinga by 'Shaiv' devotees.
Since early morning, the devotees thronged Har-ki-Pauri and other ghats on the banks of Ganga to have holy dip and offered milk to the mother Ganga and did 'abhishek' of Shivalingas with panchamrit (drink made of five food items). The whole city resounded with 'Bam Bam Bhole' and 'Har Har Mahadev'.
Devotees thronged Daksh temple since the morning. Serpentine queues were seen outside the temple. legend has it that Parvati (Shiva's consort) became 'sati' (offering oneself to fire) at this place. The same was observed at Bilwakeshwar temple. It is said that the marriage procession of lord Shiva was taken out from the streets of Kankhal on this day. Some devotees were seen taking 'Shiv baraat' (marriage procession) near Chowk Bazar.
Coming out of the temple, an ecstatic devotee said, "It is the night of Shiva, the enlightening light where the devotee prays to remove darkness of ignorance from his life." Just as the Shivalinga is worshipped with flowers and leaves, the devotees offered bilwa leaves to their living guru as well in some ashrams. Thousands of devotees kept on coming the whole day to make the offerings to their guru. For the night, special abhishek puja of Rs 5,000 and its multiples were booked in Harihar and Shankar ashrams.
Speaking to 'The Pioneer', IG, Ardh Kumbh Mela, G S Martolia said, "Ample security arrangements were made for the fifth snan and nearly 30 lakh devotees took the holy dip on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. Four drone cameras were deployed in the mela zone for vigilance. No person was allowed to enter any Shiva temple without passing through the metal detector."