Kashi Vishvanth’s Jyotirlinga Garbh Grih has been revamped with 37 kg gold that equals weight of Prime Minister Narender Modi’s mother by an anonymous donor. Ujjain made a record by lighting 11.71 lakh diyas as a part of Shiv Jyoti Arpanam Mahotsava.
From Dibrugarh’s Jagatnath temple and Prayagraj to Kashi Vishwanath and Bhootnath temple in Mandi, from Kedarnath in Uttarakhand to Siddheswar in Arunachal Pradesh, all the 12 Lord Shiva’s Jyotirlinga across the country echo with the chants of ‘Om Namah Shivay, Har Har Mahadev’ in the Himalayan states and across the country to celebrate Mahashivratri festival on Tuesday today. 
According to the sources, Garbh Grih of Kashi Vishwanath temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in the country, was beautified with 37 kg gold that equals the weight of mother of Prime Minister Narender Modi. In fact, an anonymous doner donated 60 kg gold to revamp Lord Vishwanath. “It is the second highest donation by a Shiv Bhakt after Maharaja Ranjeet Singh had donated gold worth 24 Mannas to the temple in 1853”. Incidentally, Prime Minister Narender Modi had visited the Kashi Vishwanath on February 27, two days ahead of Mahashivratri and offered Puja in the revamped Garbh Grih (inner courtyard) of the temple. Gold equal to weight of mother of PM was used to beautify the inner courtyard, sources said.
Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga is located in city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, home constituency of Narender Modi. To its west flows holy river Ganga.
It is not only the common lord Shivas bhakt and VVIPs, but the Bollywood stars from Madhuri Dixit to Preity Zinta and Kangana Ranaut to Sara Ali Khan and Pooja Hegde and others offered their prayers to Lord Shiva and took to social media to catch up with their fans.
Pooja Hegde says, “ May they be as fierce as Lord Shiva while chasing dreams and as benevolent as Him when it comes to forgiveness”.
Breathing in fresh airs after easing up of Corona restrictions and lockdowns the pilgrims from across the country appeared on the bathing ghats with renewed devotion and fervour. As many as over 1.86 lakh took holy dip in holy Ganga Ghat of Prayagraj on the occasion of Mahashivratri festival today.
In Ujjain city along the Kshipra river in Madya Pradesh, the devotees made record on Guinness Book of Records by lighting 11.71 lakh diyas as part of Shiv Jyoti Arpanam Mahotsava celebrating Mahashiratri there on Tuesday. The devotees of Tagin Janjati from Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh carrying Lord Shiva’s payer flags stayed Kalash march barefoot, celebrating Mahashiratri in border Himalayan state. The devotes gathered at Self-manifested Svambhu Shivalinga of 25 ft high Siddheswar temple in Arunchal Pradesh.
In Himachal Pradesh people thronged temples offering prayers at Jyotirlingas and ate Bhang pokras and drank Ghotas. In Shimla district, people hold fast throughout the day and ate rich variety of dishes- Malpuras, Badas, Shaklis, Gulvas, Chilas, Babars and fruits after performing a host of rituals offering Fajas to the Satnaja Roat and Bakras, symbol of Shiva's lore to celebrate the legendary marriage of Lord Shiva and His consort, Goddess Parvati, symbol of Shakti.
But the week long Mahashivratri festival of temple town of Mandi, known as Choti Kashi, is all set to reverberate the town with divine tunes. As a tradition Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur will be the chief guest leading the Madho Rao procession of Devtas from Madho Rao Temple to the Paddal Maidan amid the runny tunes of Dhols and Nagaras, shehnais and karnals played by Bajantris, musicians of the Devtas.
Mahashivratri Jaleb features a religious parade of over 200 Devtas coming to Mandi town from across Mandi district for their divine festivities for a week- a cultural tradition that dates back to hundreds of years to the history of erstwhile Rajas of the former Mandi and Saket states.
