Devotees from across state and beyond throng Shiva temples on Mahashivratri

Ponda/Bicholim/Vasco: Thousands of devotees performed ‘abhishek’ in Shiva temples across Goa on Mahashivratri on Sunday. Shree Rudreshwar temple at Harvalem saw devotees from Goa as well as those from Karnataka and Maharashtra thronging it to mark the festival.Chief minister Pramod Sawant performed ‘dugdhabhishek’ at this temple too.Shree Damodar temple in Vasco, Shree Saptakoteshwar temple at Narvem, Shree Mahadev temple at Bordem-Bicholim, and Shree Mahadev temple at Vathadev were some of the others that drew large numbers of devotees.Sawant said state administration has spent crores of rupees on the development of the Harvalem area to make it a permanent spiritual centre for the people from different walks of life from the entire world.

He said development work is in progress and urged the devotees to refrain from venturing into the river or visit the waterfall area, so as to avoid any untoward incidents. He was accompanied by Union minister of state, Shripad Naik.Large numbers of devotees partook in the mahaprasad at the temples in the afternoon. Bhajan, aarti and palanquin processions were held across the shrines too.Meanwhile, governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapati Raju inaugurated the 90th Mahashivratri festival organised by Prajapita Brahmakumaris Vishwavidhyalya near Goa College of Physiotherapy at Harvalem, with a special exhibition of 108 shivlingas.

On Mahashivratri, devotees flock to temples dedicated to Lord Shiva across the state with milk and bay leaves to perform abhishek right from the early morning hours. Resultantly, the ritual of offering milk to shivalingas on Mahashivratri boosted Goa Dairy’s milk sale by over 11,000 litres on Sunday.Rama G Parab, a member of the committee of administrators, said the dairy normally records a sale of 42,000 litres on Sundays, but this rose to to 53,137 litres this Sunday on account of the festival.“On Mahashivratri, lay persons are allowed to perform abhishek. This motivates them, as usually, only temple priests are allowed to perform all types of rituals, including the abhishek,” Parab said.