Thousands of devotees thronged the Chamarajeshwara Swamy rathotsava that was held with religious fervour in Chamarajangar on Wednesday. The festival which is held in the month of Ashada began with the traditional puja rituals from the wee hours on Wednesday. Later, the deity was placed in the chariot and was pulled on the main roads of the city.
The small chariots carrying the idols of Vinayaka, Chandikeshwara, Subramanya led the main chariot from the front. It was followed by a huge chariot carrying the idol of Chamarajeshwaraswamy and Kempananjambadevi.
The devotees who had lined up on the streets were seen throwing fruits and javana and offering prayers.
Youths and children enjoyed the festival by smearing their faces with colours and was accompanied by folk troupes performing gorava kunitha.
It was taken on Rathada beedi, Gurunanjana shettara choultry, Mahaveer circle, Veerabhadreshwaraswamy temple, old bus stand, Nrupatunga circle and returned to the temple at around 3.15 pm.
As there were wide reports on the dilapidated condition of the chariot, the devotees heaved a sigh of relief by the time the chariot returned to its place. Several voluntary organisations were seen distributing panaka and also prasada. Rajasthan Samaja distributed 20,000 laddus to the devotees on the occasion.
MLA C Puttarangashetty, MLC Prof K R Mallikarjunappa, deputy commissioner K R Sundar, CMC president Bhagyamma, vice president Selvi Babu, CMC Commissioner V H Krishnamurthy, CHUDA president S Balasubramanaya and others offered prayers on the occasion.
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