Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Feb 15 (PTI) Lakhs of devotees on Sunday converged at Jyotirlinga shrines across Maharashtra to offer prayers on the occasion of Mahashivratri, with the Grishneshwar Temple alone bracing for a massive footfall of four lakh faithfuls.
The district rural police have enforced a tight security cover, deploying 450 personnel at the Grishneshwar Temple, considered the 12th Jyotirlinga in the country, to ensure smooth crowd management and darshan.
Nearly four lakh devotees are expected to visit the shrine at Ellora till Monday morning, an official said.
“The temple will remain open for devotees the entire night. Parking spaces have been made available at least a kilometre away from the temple this year,” a senior official from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar rural police told PTI.
At least 32 officers, 175 home guards and 250 police personnel have been deployed in the temple area, he said.
Lakhs of faithfuls also queued up at the Parli Vaijnath Temple, a Jyotirlinga shrine in Beed district.
The Beed police have deployed a staff of nearly 250 personnel, including officers and home guards, who will remain in the area till Monday morning.
Devotees waited in serpentine queues for two to three hours for darshan here, an official said.
At the famous temple of Aundha Nagnath in Hingoli district, considered the eighth Jyotirlinga, the district administration has made basic amenities available for devotees, and a drone show is also scheduled at the temple in the evening, he said.
Mahashivratri, one of the most important festivals dedicated to Lord Shiva, is marked by prayers, fasting and night-long worship across the country. PTI AW ARU
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