Bengaluru echoes with passionate chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’

Devotees offer puja at the Shivoham Shiva Temple on Old Airport Road on Thursday. DH Photo/Pushkar V

Devotees offer puja at the Shivoham Shiva Temple on Old Airport Road on Thursday. DH Photo/Pushkar V

Shiva temples in the city witnessed devotees in thousands who celebrated Maha Shivaratri by strictly following the Covid-19 protocol in place.

Cultural groups have also organised singing and dancing performances in praise of Lord Shiva, even as the BBMP deployed marshals across the city to ensure devotees followed social distancing, wore masks and followed other precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak.

Marshals spread awareness among devotees and organisers on the importance of social distancing.

The Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple in Basavanagudi had been festooned to welcome the devotees. Priests performed abishekhas from 6 am on Thursday and the pujas went on up to the early hours of Friday.

Jalakanteshwara temple in Kalasipalya saw hundreds offering prayers on the auspicious day, while the Art of Living ashram premises on Kanakapura Road reverberated with bhajans and satsangs led by Sri Sri Ravishankar.

Meanwhile, in Malleswaram, the Dr C N Ashwath Narayan Foundation organised the Maha Shivaratri utsava, where volunteers and popular artistes performed fusion music, dance and stand-up comedy all through the night.

People of all ages also lit lamps and offered prayers to the 35-ft Shiva at the Shivoham Shiva temple on Old Airport Road.

The Shesha Mahaganapathi temple in Hanumantha Nagar had made decorations with reusable and plastic-free materials, with the entire temple decked with grapes and sugarcane that gave an attractive look and a pleasant fragrance. The deity itself was adorned with pearls and flowers. Devotees at the temple were also treated to cultural programmes.

Online festivities

The pandemic has forced volunteers of the Isha Foundation to conduct the Shivaratri celebrations in virtual mode.

Pavan Kumar, a volunteer at the foundation, told DH that the Maha Shivaratri celebrations are minimalistic this year.

“While very few of us volunteers celebrated the occasion at the main centre (Coimbatore), a large number of us across the country and the world have joined online. Those of us in the city had gathered at the Bengaluru centre to witness the live streaming from Isha Foundation,” he said.