The festival of Maha Shivaratri was on Friday celebrated in West Bengal amid traditional fervour as hundreds of thousands of devotees thronged Lord Shiva temples across the state.
Women of all ages fasted through the day, and offered milk, curd, honey and ghee at 'shiva-lingas'. After paying their obeisance to the deity, married women prayed for the long life of their husbands.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended her greetings on the occasion.
People patiently waited in long queues for their turn of 'darshan' of Lord Shiva.
At many temples, authorities urged devotees to put aside part of offerings like curd and milk for the underprivilged.
Around an hour away from the eastern metropolis, the temple of Tarakeshwar saw thousands of pilgrims march bare foot to the shrine carrying pitchers of water of the Ganga to pour over the idol of the deity and adorn the lingam with flowers.
--IANS
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