JOIN USThousands of devotees witnessed the annual Gauthama Panchamaharathotsava, (car festival) of Lord Srikanteshwara, at Nanjangud, also popular as Dakshina Kashi, in the district, on Wednesday.
All religious rituals were performed as per traditions, under the guidance of priest Nagachandra Dixit. The procession deity (utsava murthy) was adorned with gold, diamond and semi-precious ornaments during special pujas. Later, the ornaments were removed for security purpose and decorated with usual ornaments, during the procession.
The Gauthama Ratha was installed at the mantap at 6.15 am. Deputy Commissioner K B Sivakumar launched the rathotsava, by breaking a coconut on a wheel of the chariot. The chariot was pulled amid chanting of hymns by hundreds of devotees, and Vedic hymns by priests. "
Har Har Mahadev...." rent the air, when the Gauthama Ratha started moving. A large number of people gathered at the temple town and fulfilled their vows by offering fruits and davana to the procession deity.
Panchamaharatotsava means pulling of five chariots, with the main chariot being the Gauthama Ratha. First, the chariot with lord Ganapathi was pulled, followed by Srikanteshwara, Chandikeshwara, Subramanya and goddess Parvathi. It passed through the Rajabeedhi, covering a distance of 1.5 km.
As the concretisation of the Rajabeedhi was done recently at a cost of Rs 10 crore, the chariots moved smoothly, without any hindrance. The Gauthama Ratha, which began the procession at 6.30 am, returned to its place at 7.55 am. All the other chariots returned to the temple at 8.20 am, signalling the end of the car festival. The 98-feet tall chariot, weighing 110 tonnes, was decorated with colourful flags, buntings and flowers.
Additional DC T Yogesh, MLA N Keshavamurthy, Temple Executive Officer Kumaraswamy, AEO Gangaiah and others participated. Karnataka Road Transport Corporation plied additional buses to Nanjangud from Mysuru, for the convenience of devotees. Voluntary organisations had opened counters to distribute water, juice and snacks to the devotees. Temple management also distributed prasada.