Bhubaneswar: The celebration of Maha Shivratri came to an end in Bhubaneswar after Mahadeepa (holy lamp) was placed atop Lingaraj temple dedicated to Lord Shiva on Wednesday night.
However, the lifting of the Mahadeepa was delayed by around 40 minutes. The holy lamp was lifted at around 10.40 pm instead of the scheduled 10 pm.
A mishap took place while the Mahadeepa was being lifted. A servitor fell down while climbing atop the temple with the Mahadeepa and sustained injuries. Another servitor took the sacred lamp and climbed atop the temple,
As per the schedule, the rituals were performed for Lord Lingaraj in the temple since morning with thousands of devotees thronging the shrine throughout the day.
While the rituals began after 3 am in the temple, devotees started to queue up outside since morning to offer prayers at the shrine.
The servitors carrying the Mahadeepa conducted the Bedha Parikrama by moving around the temple. Then they climbed to the top the temple and placed the sacred lamp amid roaring slogans of “Har Har Mahadev” and “Om Namah Shivay”.
The holy lamp was atop the temple around 40 minutes after the scheduled time. With this, the devotees broke their day-long fast observed on the occasion of the festival.
Since morning, most of the rituals were concluded in time. ritual. However, some rituals got delayed after evening. After ‘Sandhya Dhoopa’, ‘Maha Snan’ was performed. Finally, ‘Badasinghara’ ritual was performed following which Mahadeepa was carried and placed atop the shrine.
