Hundreds of people offered puja as part of Mahashivaratri celebrations to a replica of the Shivalinga at Kashi Vishwanath Temple that was created at the Karnataka Gymkhana Grounds in Hubballi on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: KIRAN BAKALE

The twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and the various districts of Kittur Karnataka region saw vibrant celebrations during the Mahashivaratri festival on Wednesday with devotees of Lord Shiva fasting for the day and spending the whole night chanting the names of the lord.

In all Shiva temples across the districts of Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag and Uttar Kannada, various rituals were carried out throughout the day with people swarming the temples from early morning and the temple premises reverberated with chants of the Mahamantra Om Namah Shivaya throughout the day and also through the night.

One could see people lining up in front of temples of Lord Shiva in their neighbourhood, while some chose to travel to Shiva temples in other districts to offer puja.

In anticipation of large number of devotees visiting Shiva temples, temple committees made arrangements accordingly.

As devotees were undertaking one-day fasting as part of the festival, in most of the Shiva temples, committee members offered fruits and dates as prasadam to them.

In Hubballi, where the annual car festival of Sri Siddharoodh Swami is conducted on the day after Mahashivaratri, thousands of people from various places across the region, who have undertaken padayatra, started arriving at the mutt in groups on Wednesday.

This is likely to continue on Thursday also as the rathotsava is scheduled to take place in the evening. The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) has made arrangements to run special buses to various places after the car festival, for the benefit of the devotees.

There were hundreds of visitors to Shivapura Colony off Gokul Road in Hubballi where a gigantic statue of Lord Shiva is located. It was a common sight to see devotees taking selfies standing in front of the statue after the puja.

Replica of Kashi Vishwanath

At the Karnataka Gymkhana Ground in Deshpande Nagar of Hubballi, a replica of the Shivalinga of Kashi Vishwanath was created by Kshamatha Samsthe promoted by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, which attracted thousands of people.

Mr. Joshi, along with Mayor Ramappa Badiger, MLA Mahesh Tenginakai and others, took part in the Rudrabhishekam organised as part of the festival.

The Union Minister subsequently distributed prasadam to the devotees. In the evening, various cultural programmes were held as part of Mahashivaratri.

Like Hubbali, Dharwad too witnessed serpentine queues in front of Shiva temples.

As devotees kept awake chanting the name of Lord Shiva through the night, devotional music programmes were organised at various places.