Varanasi, Feb. 16 (PTI): Lakhs of devotees, including thousands of 'Naga sadhus', today offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple and other Lord Shiva shrines in this temple city on the occasion of Mahashivaratri amidst tight security.
The devotees thronged the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Chowk area, Vishwanath temple in the BHU campus, Markandey Mahadev temple, Mritunjaya Mahadev temple, Shooltankeshwar Mahadev temple and other shrines since early morning to perform religious rituals on the occasion.
The atmosphere in the temple city reverberated with the chantings of 'har har Mahadev' as nearby 2,000 'Naga sadhus' led the devotees in peforming 'Jalabhishek' to the deity in the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The devotees were seen standing in a queue at the this temple to worship the deity.
Elaborate security arrangements were made on the occasion. Apart from 15 companies of PAC and RAF, over a thousand policemen and intelligence personnel in plain clothes were deployed at all sensitive points to maintain law and order and monitor the movement and activities of the people.
Strict traffic restrictions were in place in this city and all vehicular traffic enroute to the shrines were stopped.
No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district so far, police sources said.