Mandi, Feb 18 (IANS) The week-long Mahashivratri celebrations began in this Himachal Pradesh town Wednesday with religious fervour.
The centuries-old festival is celebrated with a difference in this town, popularly known as Chhoti Kashi, as it sees the congregation of over 150 hill "gods and goddesses". The Mahashivratri festivities ended in other northern states Tuesday.
"Over 200 deities have been sent invitation to participate in Mahashivratri. Around 120 of them have arrived and others will join the festivity in a day or two," Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam, chief organiser of the festival, told IANS.
The festivities will continue till Feb 24.
Like the week-long Kullu Dussehra festivities, Mandi's Mahashivratri also sees a congregation, in which there are both divine and temporal aspects.
The tradition of celebrating Mahashivratri began in 1526 when the town was founded during the rule of Ajbar Sen. He "invited" all local deities to mark the founding of the new town.
During the first day of the festival, Lord Madho Rai, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the chief deity, leads the procession.
The assembled deities follow him in beautifully decorated palanquins, as per protocol, amid beating of drums and playing of "shehnais" and assemble at the Bhutnath temple here.
Three such processions, locally called "Jaleb", would be taken out on the opening, middle and concluding days of the festival, organisers said.
Mandi, located on the Chandigarh-Manali national highway-21, is dotted with more than 80 temples built in typical hill architecture.
The prominent temples are those of Bhutnath, Triloki Nath, Jagannath, Tarna Devi and Jalpa Devi.
The rulers of Mandi state were devotees of Lord Shiva.
Legend has it that ruler Sen (1499-1534) saw in his dreams a cow offering milk to an idol of Lord Shiva. His dream became a reality.
This prompted the ruler to construct a temple in 1526 - the Bhutnath temple - dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The foundation of Mandi town was laid at the same time, and Sen later shifted his capital here.
Since then, the annual assembly of deities from hundreds of village temples has become a tradition.
After the abolition of princely states, the administration has been inviting the deities.
Army foiled a major plot of terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, recovered a car full of IED and blown it
Srinagar, Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir foiled another plot of a major suicide attack like Pulwama. The army recovered an IED-equipped Santro car from Ayan Gund area of Pulwama. Which was
5 reasons for Biden's victory: Openly opposed to the government on Corona, managed to get his message to voters
Joe Biden, who gave 50 years of life to politics, always dreamed of becoming President of America. In his 77th year, he is getting a chance to climb the stairs of the White House as President. This
The idea of Amitabh's 'Jhund' came from Aamir's 'Satyamev Jayate', after watching the show plans to make a film on Professor Vijay Barse
The strings of Amitabh Bachchan's 'Jhund' releasing this week are related to Aamir Khan's show 'Satyamev Jayate'. The producer of the film Savita Raj Hiremath has revealed this. In a special
Gujarat Election 2022: Hardik Patel's target on Congress, asked why so much hatred for Hindus?
Politician and social worker Hardik Patel, who gave a big blow to the Congress ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat, has now made serious allegations against the Congress. Recently,
Vivo X90 series launched, renders of Samsung Galaxy S23 excited, see all the special features of both
The Vivo X90 5G series was launched on 22 November 2022 in China. In this series, three smartphones Vivo X90 5G, Vivo X90 Pro 5G, and Vivo X90 Pro+ 5G have been introduced. On the other hand, the
China-Taiwan Tension: If the war broke out between China-Taiwan, chip manufacturing will stop, this will affect the smartphone market
There is a dispute between China and America on the issue of Taiwan. Relations between the two countries worsened after US Lower House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. China is trying to threaten
Coal India: Adequate supply of fuel to power plants, first tender issued for coal import
State-owned CIL on Thursday said it has floated its first tender for the import of 2.416 million tonnes of coal to ensure an adequate supply of fuel to power plants in the country.
RBI On Cryptocurrency: RBI's big statement on cryptocurrencies, said - it threatens the dollarization of a part of the economy
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has told a parliamentary committee that cryptocurrencies could lead to the dollarization of a section of the economy. This would be against the sovereign interests of
Schools and colleges will not open now, Ministry of Home Affairs said this
Schools and colleges will not be opened yet. In this regard, the Union Home Ministry said on Tuesday night that no decision has been taken yet on opening of schools and colleges and there is still a
Effect of epidemic: Big blow to America, economy shrank at 1.4 percent in the first quarter
The US economy has suffered a major setback amid the global crisis. The US economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter. The Department of Commerce of the Bureau of Economic
