Lakhs of people thronged to Malleshwaram temples to get a glimpse of Lord Shiva on Maha Shivarathri.
On the occasion of Mahashivaratri, Malleshwaram became the prime location for all the devotees. With two ancient and most significant Lord Shiva temples in the area, it was a huge rush of devotees on both the days of February 20 and 21.
All roads to the historic temples were crowded with people on the occasion. Kadu Malleshwara Temple, well-known for its Swayambu Shiv Linga, had special pujas for the day. And the Nanditeertha Temple had special palu abhishekam (milk offering) by the devotees who came to the temple.
"It is really a blessing to get a glimpse of both the deities at Kadu Malleshwara and Nanditeerta on the great auspicious day of Maha Shivarathri. People from all parts of Bangalore come to the temple and it is really difficult to get a glimpse in this crowd," said Sudha, one of the devotees.
Tthe entire temple was decked beautifully with flowers, plantain and mango leaves for the occasion. Even the trees were illuminated. Both the temples were opened for 'darshanam' right from the wee hours. The main attraction of the festival was the famous 'Brahma Rathotsava' on the second day on Tuesday, February 21, which had lakhs waiting for the function since noon.
"It was really a wonderful show with so many devotees thronging to the temple. It is estimated that nearly five lakh devotees came to witness the 'Brahma Rathotsava' on Tuesday. This time we did not have any cultural programmes; only special pujas were conducted and the entire temple was well decorated," said C K Swami, one of the temple trust officials.

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