GOA, INDIA, January 22, 2009: Mahashivratri – a festival dedicated to lord Shiva – will be celebrated with much fervor across the country and state on Monday.
The twin temples of Chandreshwar and Bhutnath are located on a hillock near Quepem, while one of the most ancient shrines of Shiva is the Saptkoteshwar of Narve. It is more than a thousand years old if one goes by the coins and inscriptions created by the Kadambas of Goa. Next to the temple of Rudreshwar near Sanquelim are the celebrated caves of Harvale, which bear a Shivalinga on which an inscription in Brahmi characters was made as early as the seventh century.
The hamlet of Vadawal at Bicholim contains a shrine with a difference – the Siddachi Rai. This grove is believed to contain the biggest Shivalinga in Goa. It has no walls but only verdant trees around it.
On the day of Mahashivratri, large numbers of devotees are expected to throng these temples to perform the ritual of abhishek. This festival is also marked by the traditional offering of 108 lotuses and leaves of the bel tree (Aegle marmelos) to the Hindu God.