Temple roof decorated with rudraksha beads cynosure of all eyes at Santapeta in Andhra Pradesh

Rudraksha beads ranging from two to 14 faces were specially procured from Nepal for worship, says the head priest of Santapeta Sai Baba temple

Devotees thronged Siva temples in the district right from dawn to observe the Maha Shivaratri festival on Saturday. Crowds swelled as the day progressed. Devotees performed ‘Ksheera Abhishegam’ after waiting in serpentine queues.

Rudraksha garlands made of 51 lakh blueberry beads covered the roof of the shrine of Ganga, Annapurna samedha Kasi Visweswara swamy at the Santhapeta Sai Baba temple here. A huge ‘Sivalinga’ was also installed at the temple by arranging lakhs of rudraksha beads in a pattern.

A group of Vedic priests led by Mathampalli Dakshinamurthy performed ‘Maharudra yagam’ and ‘Chandi yagam’ for world peace. The rudraksha beads ranging from two to 14 faces were specially procured from Nepal for worship, said the head priest before performing the ‘Purnahuti’, seeking health, wealth and prosperity. The celestial marriage of the divine couple Parameswara and Parvati was performed on the occasion.

Observing a day-long fast, devotees visited, among other temples, the Tripurantakeswara temple at Tripurantakam, which is considered the ‘eastern gateway’ to Srisailam, twin temples of Bhimeswara and Ramalingeswara at Satyavolu, Amaralingeswaraswamy temple at Manetikotoa, Bhaireswara temple at Giddallur, Ramakoteswaraswamy temple at Chinnaganjam and Lingothbava Swamy temple at Chadalavada.

Young and old alike ventured deep into the Nallamala forests guided by Chenchu tribals to offer prayers at the Gundla Brahmeswaram temple. The rock-cut cave temples of Lord Siva at Bhairavakona also witnessed a huge rush of devotees.

Devotees stayed awake throughout the night for the ‘Lingothbhav’ darshan at many Saivite temples including the one at Jambulapalem which has 1,116 Sivalingas and performed ‘Rudrabhishegam’ from late in the night and continued till the wee hours of Sunday.