Devotees catch fish to please gods
Annual temple fairs everywhere involves a lot of religious ceremonies and rituals. But the annual fair of Ullaya Devasthana of Khandigebeedu in Pavanje, near Surathkal is all about fun and frolic. During the annual fair of this temple, devotees get into the river to catch fishes.
The fishing ceremony begins with the temple priest arriving on the bank of river Nandini and splashing the temple prasadam into the river. This time the initiation was done at 6.30 am on Sunday. The devotees who were waiting to get into water, plunged to catch fishes once the ritual was completed.
After fishing, many devotees sell it off on the spot. On this day, a huge crowd of devotees gather to purchase the fishes. Relishing on the fish curry prepared using the fishes from river Nandini on this day itself is the prasadam of the temple.
Accordingly, the price of the fishes too range anywhere between Rs 150 to Rs 1,000. Many devotees say that the quantity of fishes caught this year is far lesser than the usual. Since the water-level was high, big fishes escaped the net.
At 5 am on Monday, Nemothsava of Dharmarasu Sri Ullaya and Parvara Daivas will be held.
