Annual Mahashivratri fair at Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga Temple cancelled

Aurangabad: The annual Mahashivratri fair at Shri Kshetra Verul in Khultabad taluka of the district, one of the 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’ in the country, has been cancelled this year due to rising corona cases.

A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting held at Shri Kshetra Mandir, also known as Ghrishneshwar, on Tuesday. This came just days after another such celebration held annually at Parali-Vaijnath temple in Beed district was cancelled.

Khultabad tehsildar (revenue officer) Surendra Deshmukh said that the state government has issued some guidelines for Mahashivratri celebrations.

There are instructions from the Home Department to celebrate Mahashivratri in a simple way, he informed and said that therefore, the annual events will not be held this year. 

Hence, the decision to cancel the yatra was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of corona infection, he added.

Since the Shri Ghrishneshwar temple at Verul is one of 12 ‘Jyotirlingas’ in the country, millions of Shiva devotees from all over the country throng the temple on auspicious occasion of Mahashivatri. (UNI)