The spiritual force of the Ganga was in full flow for the first time in Karnataka on Monday as thousands of devotees lined up outside several Shiva temples in the city and other parts of the state to partake the holy waters that was being distributed by the Muzrai department as part of the Mahashivaratri celebrations.

In Bangalore, the holy Gangajal was distributed at 20 major Shiva temples including Harihareshwara temple and Swamy Lingeshwara temple in Hanumanthanagar, Kadu Mallikarjuna temple at Mallesharam, Kannika Parameshwari temple at Vijayanagar, Lord Shiva temple on old Airport road, Sri Jalakanteswara Swamy temple at Kalasipalya, Sri Rameshwara Swamy temple at Chamarajapet and Mahabaleshwara temple at KR Puram.

Serpentine queues of devotees could be seen in front all these temples from early in the morning as they arrived even before the daybreak to ensure that they were not deprived of the theertha of the holy Ganga water.

At the Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple and Someshwara temple, the queue stretched to over 1.5km. More than 30,000 devotees received Gangajal in each of these two temples.

The Gavi Gangadhareshwara temple had received 300 litres of Gangajal. The stock lasted late into the night.

The police had a mammoth task in maintaining order in queues as devotees tried to jump the queue, unable to bear the scorching heat at Someshwara temple. The situation was similar in other districts of the state as well.

The police had made elaborate security arrangements by deploying huge posses at every one of the temples. But the crowd was much more than expected.

Manjula, a devotee in the queue before the the Gavi Gangadeshwara temple, said: "I am excited today as I will be getting the theertha
(holy water) of the holy Gangajal. We have been waiting here for more than two hours now but the wait is nothing when compared to the satisfaction of having the holy water."

Nagalingiah, a resident of Chamarajapet, said, "My father brought Gangajal years ago for us when he visited Haridwar. But I did not taste it then. Now, I am fortunate and blessed enough to taste it."

In some temples, the queue was so long that devotees had to wait for nearly six hours before they could quench their spiritual thirst with a spoonful of Gangajal.

Priests performed a special abhishekas for the "Shiva Linga" with Gangajal, milk, curds and ordinary water before distributing the holy theertha.

"We started puja in the wee hours of Monday and started distributing the Gangajal at six in the morning," a priest at the Sri Rameshwara Swamy temple at Chamarajapet said. He added that this theertha distribution went on till late in the evening. Calendars of Lord Shiva were distributed to the devotees at many temples. (Santosh Kumar RB/DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication)