Devotees stand in que to offer prayer Mandapeshwar Caves, an 8th century rock-cut shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, on occasion of Mahashivratri, in Mumbai
| FPJ/ Salman Ansari
Mumbai celebrated Maha Shivratri on Wednesday and Shiva temples across the city witnessed long queues of devotees who gathered there from the early hours of the day.
Chants of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ filled the air. Braving the heat wave sweeping the city, tens of thousands of devotees gathered at Babulnath at Girgaon Chowpatty, the city’s most important Shiva temple. At Matunga’s Sri Sankara Mattham temple, devotees chanted the divine verse one lakh times in a prayer called Laksharchana. Lord Shiva in the form of a linga was worshipped with bilva leaves and flowers. The idol was bathed with milk, curd, honey, sugarcane juice, sandal paste and bilva leaves till early morning, when maha aarti was performed.
Devotees stand in que to offer prayer Mandapeshwar Caves, an 8th century rock-cut shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, on occasion of Mahashivratri, in Mumbai
| FPJ/ Salman Ansari
Devotees stand in que to offer prayer Mandapeshwar Caves, an 8th century rock-cut shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, on occasion of Mahashivratri, in Mumbai
| FPJ/ Salman Ansari
Devotees stand in que to offer prayer Mandapeshwar Caves, an 8th century rock-cut shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, on occasion of Mahashivratri, in Mumbai
| FPJ/ Salman Ansari
Antar Yog Foundation and Acharya Upendraji organised ‘Bhavya-Divy Mahashivratri’ event, where 3000 devotees chanted five crore Ganesh mantras. The event began at 12.00pm on Wednesday, February 26, at Hall No. 1, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon (East). The two-day event started from 7.00am on February 26 and continued till 7.00am on February 27.
Approximately three lakh devotees from across the country gathered for the spiritual experience . enlightenment. This event is free and open to all.Other temples had similar programmes.The Shri Chandramouleshwara Mahadev Temple at Girgaon and the Devkorabai Religious and Charitable Trust, started Wednesday’s celebrations with the aarti at 8.00am. This was followed by rajbhog at 12.00pm, ghi kamal mahapuja from 4.90pm to 12.00am, darshan of the Shivling between 6.00 and 8.00pm, and bhajan sandhya or devotional singing at 8.00pm. The temple opened for darshan at 4.00am on Wednesday.
The 45-day Maha Kumbh reached its last day on Maha Shivratri as millions of pilgrims took a dip in the holy waters of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati at Triveni Sangam on Wednesday amidst chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
