Thousands of devotees attired as brides of Lord Shiva, participated in the religious rituals conducted at Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple in Vemulawada of Karimnagar district on the occasion of Sri Ramanavami celebrations on Saturday.
Men, women, children and transgenders dressed themselves as brides of Lord Shiva by wearing new clothes and bangles.
They also applied turmeric paste on faces, and kept jaggery and jeera paste on heads.
They were carrying a ‘trishul’ (trident), the weapon of Lord Shiva, which was also decorated with flowers and tied with bells.
Necklace of Rudraksha beads
Devotees were given ‘rudraksha or lingam’, a necklace of beads, as ‘dharana’ by the local priests.
Carrying a ‘jhola’, containing ‘thalambralu’ (rice mixed with turmeric), they witnessed the celestial wedding of Lord Rama with his consort Seeta at the temple.
The devotees frequently shook their ‘trishuls’ to make a rhythmic sound as the wedding was performed amid chanting of Vedic slokas.
As soon as the ritual was over, they took out grains from their ‘jholas’ and threw it on the idols.
Then, the priests also declared them married to Lord Shiva.
Serpentine queues
The temple town was packed to the brim due to the arrival of thousands of devotees. Many were forced to wait in serpentine queues for a long time, which stretched on to the roads.
Temple priest Namilikonda Umesh Sharma said that the tradition of wearing ‘dharana’ (tying of rudraksha or lingam around the neck) continued at the temple from the time of Chalukya dynasty.
The Chalukyas were followers of Jainism and Shaivism, he said and added that the devotees coming as bride of Lord Shiva was also a tradition followed at that time. These devotees used to propagate the importance of Shaivism during the period and many do it for their well-being.
Radha, a devotee from Dharmaram mandal, said that she was visiting the Vemulawada temple since her childhood and gets married to Lord Shiva every year during the Ramanavami. “We marry Lord Shiva for good health and prosperity throughout the year,” she said.
Devotees attired as brides wed Lord Shiva on Ramanavami
