Godavari Districts’ 10 Shiva Temples Ready For a Million Devotees on Maha Shivaratri

Kakinada: More than 10 lakh devotees are expected to have darshan at the 10 prominent Shiva temples in the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts on the Maha Shivaratri festival on Sunday.

Devotees will start reaching the temples before midnight on Saturday for their first darshan of Lord Shiva during the coming year. The temples have been decorated with flowers and illuminated lighting.

Thousands of devotees will take a holy dip at prominent ghats, including in Rajamahendravaram, Kovvuru, Pattiseema, Chollangi, Kotipalli and Narsapuram. Many will take bath in the sea at Kakinada, Mogalturu and Antarvedi.

There are four Pancharama Kshetras – Draksharama, Samalkot, Palakollu and Bhimavaram – with prominent Shiva temples like Pithapuram (Kukkuteswara Swamy), Kotipalli (Someswara Swamy), Muramalla (Veereswara Swamy), Pattiseema (Veerabhadra Swamy), Palivela (Uma Ramalingeswara Swamy), and Bikkavolu (Subrahmanyeswara Swamy). Besides, there are plenty of Siva temples which will have long queues.

Officials are making elaborate arrangements at these temples for the Maha Shivaratri. Drones will be used to monitor the crowds.

Kakinada district collector Sagili Shan Mohan made it clear that VIPs will be allowed only from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the Maha Shivaratri day on Sunday. He maintained that no passes will be issued for VIPs and priority will be given to general devotees to ensure a smooth and speedy darshan.

Eluru district collector K. Vetri Selvi has instructed Endowment officials to make all arrangements for the convenience of devotees in Pattiseema’s Bhadrakali Sametha Veerabhadra Swamy Temple. Devotees have to ride boats to reach the temple located amidst Godavari waters. Vetri Selvi asked officials to engage sufficient boats and swimmers, apart from life jackets for the devotees.

West Godavari district collector C. Nagarani said that all arrangements have been made for organising the Maha Shivaratri festival in a grand manner at the two Pancharama Kshetras at Bhimavaram and Palakollu and other Siva Temples.

Rajamahendravaram municipal commissioner Rahul Meena said arrangements have been made for devotees to take holy dips at the various ghats including Kotilingala Ghat, Chintalamma Ghat, Pushkara Ghat, Markandeya Ghat, Saraswati Ghat, and Gautami Ghat. He told officials that there must be no compromise on drinking water, sanitation, parking and security facilities.

Officials are expecting more women devotees as they have free RTC bus travel facility.