VARANASI, Feb. 16 -- As many as 5.46 lakh devotees had offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple by 7pm on the occasion of Mahashivaratri on Sunday even as long queues continued till the filing of the report. Devotees in huge numbers from Purvanchal started arriving in the temple town for the occasion and camped at Dashashwamedh, Godaulia, and Maidagin areas since Saturday evening. As night fell, they began lining up after bathing in the Ganga. According to Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust's chief executive officer Vishwa Bhushan Mishra, after Mangala Aarti by 6.40am, around 160,000 devotees had darshan of Baba Kashi Vishwanath, and by 7 pm the number had crossed two lakh. Mishra also showered flowers on the devotees. According to him, by 7 pm, 5.46 lakh devotees had offered prayers at the temple. The KV Temple Trust said sacred offerings from 63 temples, including 55 from India and remaining from abroad, had been received. A portion of these offerings was ritually offered as bhog during the mid-day 'Bhog Aarti'. It was then distributed among the devotees who had come to the Dham. Meanwhile, police personnel were busy arranging the queues. Arrangements have been made for devotees to have darshan from all the temple gates, including Dhundhiraj, Gangadwar, and Saraswati gates. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with water police was deployed at the ghats. To ensure safety of devotees at Markandeya Mahadev Temple, additional CP (crime) Alok Priyadarshi inspected the temple complex and surrounding ghats. He reviewed security arrangements, crowd control, and parking arrangements. The NDRF has also been included in the security arrangements to deal with any emergency. The administration has appealed to devotees to cooperate in maintaining peace and order and to use only designated routes. A Kirtan group from Maharashtra also arrived to have darshan of Kashi Vishwanath temple on Mahashivaratri....