Gaiety marks rathotsava atop hills

Royal scion Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar couple flagged off the ritual

A chariot carrying the utsava murthy of the goddess was pulled at 7.30 am amid the chanting of vedic hymns by the priests led by Shashishekar Dixit and slogans raised in favour of the deity by the huge number of devotees, who had converged at the hills. As is the tradition royal scion Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and his wife Pramodadevi Wadiyar offered special puja marking the beginning of the rathotsava. Medical Education and District In-charge Minister S A Ramdas along with his mother, pulled the rope of the chariot to a distance being a part of the ritual.

Earlier at the temple, utsava murthy of the goddess was decked up with flowers of types, besides jewellery and a silk saree before installing on the chariot. Braving mist, devotees had begun to arrive at the hills from 6 am. Also a good number of people walked up to the shrine treading 1,000 steps from the foot of the hills. Those who had vowed to fulfil the wish, applied vermillion and turmeric to every steps before stepping on the same, apart from praying to the almighty with folded hands.

An officer said, eight quintals of ‘pulaav’ (a dish made of rice) had been prepared to be distributed as prasada. This apart, a few devotees distributed ‘panaka’ and ‘majjige’ to fulfil their vow again. Arrangements had been made to distribute prasada in the vicinity of the temple and also nandi statue. K R Police had made adequate security arrangements to ensure hassle free ritual that saw devotees from Bangalore, Mandya, Hassan and several other districts too, apart from Mysore. KSRTC plied buses in several trips from the welcome arch to the top of the hills for the benefit of the visitors.

‘Theppotsava’ another ritual connected with the ‘rathotsava’ will be held on October 23 (Saturday).