Surge of devotion in Kashi: Holy dip, prayers, Naga sadhus’ procession mark Mahashivratri
Serpentine queues stretching over 3 km formed outside the KV Temple since midnight, doors remained open for an uninterrupted 46-hour darshan
VARANASI Chants of ‘Om Namah Shivay’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ reverberated across Varanasi on Wednesday as a large number of devotees, including Naga sadhus, celebrated Mahashivratri by offering prayers to the deity at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple while thousands thronged the Ganga ghats, taking a holy dip on the auspicious day. Since midnight, serpentine queues stretching over 3 km were formed outside the temple, as doors remained open for an uninterrupted 46-hour darshan.
The district administration and the temple trust, under chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s guidance, implemented strict security measures as this year’s Mahashivratri in Kashi coincided with the Mahakumbh’s return flow, leading to an unprecedented surge of devotees.
The state government elevated the celebrations by organising a grand flower shower from a helicopter, covering KV Dham and Ganga Ghats.
Special arrangements were made for crowd and traffic management with special focus on Maidagin-Godaulia stretch and adjoining areas. The KV Temple complex was under surveillance with police, paramilitary forces, ATS commandos, and STF units deployed to maintain order.
To ensure a smooth darshan experience for all devotees, VIP protocols were suspended, giving equal access to all. The temple doors were opened at 2:15am after the Mangala Aarti, with Baba Vishwanath adorned like a divine groom.
Kashi saw a grand early morning procession led by ‘Naga sadhus’ and ‘akharas’ to the KV Temple. Mahamandaleshwar of ‘akharas’ were atop a royal chariot as the procession headed towards the temple.
The sadhus waved maces, chanted ‘Har Har Mahadev’, played ‘Damru’ and blew conch shells to reach gate no. 4 of the temple, where temple trust CEO Vishwa Bhushan Mishra and sub divisional magistrate Shambhu Sharan garlanded the sadhus. The sadhus were also showered with rose petals.
Mishra said all arrangements, including barricading and water facilities, were in place to ensure devotees’ comfort. The temple saw a huge number of visitors, with darshan continuing through the night.
The sadhus performed Jalabhishek (offering Gangajal to Baba Kashi Vishwanath) for the welfare of Sanatan Dharma. A red carpet was also laid in the dham for the Naga monks. After performing puja, they blessed pilgrims with happiness and prosperity while leaving KV temple, said the KV Temple Trust in a statement.
Since early hours, devotees had got in queues to offered prayers to Lord Shiva. By 3pm, over 4.5 lakh devotees offered prayers, stated the KV Temple administration.
Additional commissioner of police (law and order) S Channappa said, “Tight security arrangements were put in place with special focus on localities around KV Temple. Regular monitoring of crowd was done.”
Divisional commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma, police commissioner Mohit Agarwal, additional commissioner of police S Channappa and district magistrate S Rajalingam were seen taking stock of crowd management since early hours.
