Pt. Ganesh
CHICAGO: Mahashivratri, one of the biggest festivals among Hindus propitiating Trinity Lord Shiva, was celebrated with great pomp and devotion at Hindu Mandir of Lake County last week.
The event attracted a huge galaxy of devotees in spite of inclement weather and working day. Lord Shiva devotees flocked to the temple with lots of devotion and dedication from morning till midnight to have Lord Darshan in unique alankars and take Shiva’s Shubha Ashisha on this auspicious occasion.
Devotees offered milk, flowers, and fruits to Lord Shiva with great enthusiasm. More than 800 devotees from all Indian communities, especially young couples and children, showed up to see Baba Amaranth Him-Lingam made up of snow which was the special attraction of the occasion.
Special abhishekams and alankars for Lord Shiva started from 6 p.m. onwards by temple priests Pt. Anil Joshi and Pt. Ganesh with their supporting and chanting devotees. Three abhishekams of Lord Shiva were followed by unique alankars namely saga (vegetables), phala (fruits) and pushpam (flowers) that captured the attention of all the devotees.
All the alankars were offered and planned by Pt. Anil Joshi. After every anlankar special samoohika archanas were offered with full religious zeal. Chanting of melodious Shiva Strotram, Rudrashtakam, Lingashtakam, Panchakshra Mantras and many other stotras made the shrine filled with religiousness and godliness. Devotees sang devotional and prayerful songs and bhajans of Lord Shiva in between the alankars.
People enjoyed special Prasadam prepared by Kamal Gupta and Neelkanth with their team members till midnight. The whole event was managed by Naveen Mishra and religious committee.
President Harsh Kumar gave vote of thanks to all the alankar sponsors, chanting team and temple priests for making attractive abhishekams and alankars to Lord Shiva and devotes for their commitment and enthusiasm in every event of the temple.
Geetha Patil
