Thousands offer prayers to mark Maha Shivratri in Punjab, Haryana

Chandigarh, Feb 14 :  Amid tight security arrangements, thousands of people offered prayers at various temples across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Wednesday to mark Maha Shivratri.

While people thronged to temples, particularly temples of Lord Shiva in and around Chandigarh, thousands of people gathered at Shiv Temple in Saketri in Panchkula district in adjoining Haryana, around 10 km from here, since Tuesday evening to offer prayers.

Tight security arrangements could be seen around temples at various places in view of intelligence reports of a terror strike.

For the first time, para-military personnel were stationed around the Shiv Temple in Saketri.

Temples of Lord Shiva were specially decorated as people thronged these since Tuesday morning.

"We have been getting hundreds of devotees who are offering prayers on this auspicious occasion," Prem Sharma, a priest in a temple in Sector 9 of Panchkula, said.

People thronged temples in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and other places in Punjab and in Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Panipat and Kurukshetra in Haryana.