‘Tandav’ form of Lord Shiva on Mahashivratri mesmerizes devotees

Devotees, who queued- up in thousands of number to have a glimpse of different forms of the Lord Mahakal, mesmerized to see the ‘ Tandav’ form of the Mahakal Jyotirlingam on the eighth day of Shivnavratri festival in Ujjain on Tuesday. Though, entry to sanctum- sanctorum of the Mahakaleshwar Temple was restricted from afternoon hours in wake of special anushthan and pujan carried out by the 11 priests as well as huge inflow of devotees, rush seemed endless and devotees continued to pour in from here and there.

The Rudrapaath, which is being held from day one of the Shivnavratri, remained continue under the guidance of government priest Acharya Ghanshyam Sharma. A host of priests started decorating the Mahakal Jyotirlingam with flowers, fruits, dry fruits, dhatura etc and adorned it with Tandav shape thus symbolically tried to memorize the pro-active dance posture of the Lord Shiva.

Schedule of Mahashivratri

The programme of the Mahashivratri is scheduled accordingly. The doors of Garbh Griha opened at 2.30 am for Bhasmarti. Arti will be held at 7.30 and 10.30 respectively. At 12.00 pm abhishekh will be done by tehsil Ujjain as a representative of government. At 4.00 pm the members of erstwhile Holkar and Scindia royal family will offer abhishek as a part of their hereditary tradition which will be followed by arti at 6.30 pm.

At 10.00 pm Rameshwar and Koteshwar Mahadev will be worshipped. After 11.30 pm mahapuja and abhishek of Mahakaleshwar will be done with bhasma, dhulan, rudraksh garland, bhoo shuddhi, bhoot shuddhi, antarmatrik, bahirmatrik, Mahanyas, laghunyas, rudra pujan, panchvatra pujan will held. 1.25 lakh bilwapatra will be offered to Mahakaleshwar.

Apart from this juice of seven kinds of fruits, rose water and panchamrit will be offered. After taking bath 11 brahmins will do the ekadash rudrabhishek after which saptadhanya roop will be visible of mahadev. A crown of garland of 50 kg will be offered to Lord Mahakal along with golden ear rings, Chatra and Morepankh.