After accomplishing the pilgrimage to Ganga Talao, it is now time to celebrate the great night of Shiva at the temple, the Maheswarnath Mandir in Triolet.
If you want a walkthrough of the temple, check this post – Maheswarnath Mandir. & if you want to compare how much kanwars were recycled, check out last year’s post – Maha Shivratri 2011.
So early this morning, I was there alongside hundreds of other devotees to offer the sacred water of Ganga Talao.
The temple grounds were filled with beautiful kanwars that had made the journey to Ganga Talao during the last 4 days. The Triolet pilgrims had set off on Thursday afternoon and returned on Sunday afternoon.
The first thing most people do is offer their prayers to the gatekeepers of the temple.
Yeah, the tiger as well. Don’t look at the coconut…
Offering prayers and the sacred water to the Shivling.
The morning prayers are essential, but the most important prayers are done at night – the Char Pahar Puja – conducted during the entire night – 18:00, 21:00, 00:00 & 03:00.
The morning session is usually completed by paying respects to all the respective temples. Because it was so early in the morning, the crowd was not consequential.
After finishing the prayers, there only one thing left to do – kanwar photoshoot!
Is that what I think it is?
This last one was massive, almost like a small temple.
Electric lights on kanwars? That’s common. How about a waterfall? :)
Oh yeah, I saw that last year as well. Hey, recycling is good. :)
Very impressive.
Oh dear… Let me make this clear. Yes, in India, usage of Ganja/Bhang is accepted, but please do not try to promote it here. This is not what we want to convey when celebrating Maha Shivratri.
Love these little Shivlings.
Well, that was it. A tour of most of the kanwars within the temple yard.
Refreshments being provided to devotees.
Before leaving, there was just one last thing I would like to add. If you ever intend to make the journey to Maheswarnath Mandir next year, please do spare a thought for people less fortunate that you. Thank you.
Oh, here’s the video. 4h of uploading! Sorry for the lack of image stabilisation. ;)
Related:
- SouOnline - Mahashivratree Explained
- Pramod Universe - Maha Shivraatree – A Discipline on Pilgrimage
- Pramod Universe - Chaar Pahar ki Pooja
these are awesome pictures! keep it up
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