The historically famous lord Subrahmanyeshwara Swamy Rathotsava of Chitravathi in Chikkaballapur taluk, was held with great pomp and splendour.

It is a tradition to celebrate the rathotsava ceremony of lord Subrahmanya Swamy, on the first Shasthi of maagha month, every year. Similarly, Tuesday being the first Shashti of maagha month, the rathotsava took place in the afternoon.

Poojas were performed to the utsav murthy of lord Subrahmanyeshwara Swamy and pradakshinas were held.

Along with the traditional band and music, the idol of the lord was installed in the chariot.

Chariot set in motion

After performing another pooja, taluk panchayat president Subbarayappa, vice-president K R Reddy, CEO Dr Ashwathappa, Youth Congress leader Jagadeesh and others set the chariot in motion.

After the completion of the cattle fair, the people of this region, offer pooja to lord Subrahmanyeshwara, in order to seek his blessings to safeguard their cattle from diseases.

Thousands of people who arrive from the surrounding villages take part in the rathotsava in large numbers. They pulled the chariot with great enthusiasm and offered various poojas to the lord.

Burugu, batasu, khara, chow chow shops run from this end to that end. Apart from them, various others shops have also come up at the jathra.

Panaka offered

People who have arrived from the nearby villages, were offered green gram, panaka and butter milk, freely.

Some of the farmers were seen distributing food, which they had brought in the bullock carts and tractors.

Anna santarpana

Members belonging to the Brahmin, Arya Vaisya and Nagarta communities were involved in offering anna santarpana, at the jathra. Auto and other vehicle facilities had been provided to the people who visited the jathra. 

This time, various toys had arrived for the children to play, along with, giant wheel, titanic, air-bed, etc, apart from special entertainment programmes for the elders too.

This time also, the chariot had not been decorated, like the previous time. While the temple sources quoted that due to rains which lashed out on Monday night, the decorations to the chariot could not be done.

Chariot undecorated

Some of the devotees who participated in the jathra expressed that it was because of the negligence of the temple committee, that the lord’s chariot had remained undecorated.