Kakinada, Feb 12th: A large number of devotees thronged the temples to offer pujas and abhishekam after having a holy dip in the river Godavari to mark Shivaratri festival in East and West Godavari district on Friday. Devotees were seen taking holy dips in the water from the early hours at various ghats all along the course of the river on either side of the Banks. In Rajahmundry devotees waited for long in queues at temples including those at Uma Ramalingeswara Swamy, Uma Kotilingeswara Swamy and Sarangadhareswara.

All Shiva temples including the Pancharama temples witnessed huge number of devotees. At Draksharama, devotees visited Manikyamba Samehta Bheemeswara Swamy temple and offered prayers. At Bhimavaram, devotees waited for nearly two and a half hours to get the darshan at Uma Someswara Janardhana Swamy temple, as they believe that having the darshan of the lord on Mahashivaratri is auspicious. Temple authorities made elaborate arrangements by supplying drinking water, food packets and buttermilk to devotees while the police were deployed to avoid any untoward incidents.