On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, devotees have been offering prayers at Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple since early Friday morning. Hundreds of people thronged the temple to offer their prayers to Lord Shiva. The priests performed a grand 'Bhasma Aarti' of Mahakal in front of the devotees. The Mahakaleshwar Temple has been adorned with beautiful lighting, welcoming the devotees.

In Uttar Pradesh, a large number of people are reaching Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi to offer prayers. Devotees also take a holy dip in the Ganges. In Prayagraj, devotees are taking holy dip at Sangam.  

In the national capital, temples have been decorated and people started offering prayers since early this morning. Long queues of devotees are being witnessed at most of the Lord Shiva temples in Delhi.

Devotees thronged Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik on the occasion of Mahashivratri. Mahashivratri, which translates to 'the great night of Lord Shiva', is considered one of the most auspicious festivals in the country. Mahashivratri is considered especially auspicious as it is supposed to be the night of convergence of Shiva and Shakti, which signifies the coming together of male and female energies that keep the world in balance. Shiva and Shakti are revered as the embodiment of love, power, and oneness.

Apart from that, several renowned artists across the nation are showing their devotion to Lord Shiva with their art on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. Famous sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik created a sand sculpture of Lord Shiva from 500 'Shivalingas' in Puri, Odisha. While another sand artist named Ajay Gupta in Prayagraj (UP) made a replica of the Kedarnath temple using biscuits.

Gupta, during his interaction with the media, said, “We have made a replica of Kedarnath temple using biscuits…last year we made a Shivling with 1,111 biscuits so after that we had this thought that a temple should also be made.”

Maha Shivratri is celebrated on the 14th day of the dark fortnight of the 'Magha' month, as per the Hindu lunar calendar, and marks the night of the marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Maha Shivaratri marks the convergence of 'Shiva' and 'Shakti' and also celebrates the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandav'–the cosmic dance. It is believed that on this day, the stars in the Northern Hemisphere are in the most optimum positions to help raise a person's spiritual energy. (ANI)