Lucknow, Feb 24 (IANS): Maha Shivratri was celebrated on Friday in Uttar Pradesh, with hundreds of thousands thronging Shiva temples across the sprawling state.

Serpentine queues of men and women were seen outside many temples in Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Aligarh and Gorakhpur. The devotees offered milk, honey and more at the shrines.

Heavy crowds thronged the Lodheshwar Mahadev temple at Barabanki, the Mankameshwar temple in Agra and Lucknow, the Kashi Vishvanath temple in Varanasi, the Anandeshwar Mahadev temple in Kanpur and the Baba Gokaranath temple at Gorakhpur.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav extended their greetings to the people of Uttar Pradesh on the festival of Mahashivratri.

At some places, temple managements politely told devotees to give away milk and other offerings to the poor and hungry instead.

The celebrations will continue through the day and, in many temples, all through the night.