The famous temple town of Vemulawada, popularly known as south Kashi, in Rajanna Sircilla district, turned into a sea of humanity with hordes of devotees from far and near swarming the historic Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri festival on Wednesday.Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar offered prayers at the famous temple on the occasion.Devotees had the darshan of the presiding deity of the temple after standing in jam-packed queue lines amid steady flow of pilgrims from far and wide. Special rituals and pujas including Mahanyasa Purvaka Ekadasha Rudrabhishekam and Maha Lingarchana were performed by the priests on the occasion.Minister for Backward Classes Welfare and Transport Ponnam Prabhakar presented pattu vastrams to the presiding deity of the temple on Tuesday night. Government Whip and Vemulawada MLA Adi Srinivas and others were present.Maha Shivaratri was celebrated with religious fervour in other major temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in the entire north Telangana.Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka along with his wife Nandini offered prayers at Sri Ramalingeshwara Swamy temple in his native Snanala Laxmipuram village in Khammam district on Wednesday morning. Annual jataras commenced coinciding with the festival at several famous pilgrim centres including Kaleshwaram in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, and Teerthala in Khammam district.Published - February 27, 2025 12:15 am IST