JOIN USChamundeshwari vardhanti celebrated with religious fervour
Devotees from Mysuru and surrounding places congregated on the Chamundi Hill to celebrate the vardhanti (birth anniversary or jayanti; it is termed vardanti for gods and goddesses) of Chamundeshwari on Tuesday.
Following the ‘mahamangalarathi’ at 10 am at the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, when the members of the erstwhile royal family were present, the utsava murthy (procession deity) of the goddess was taken out in a procession in a gold palanquin from 10.30 am. The procession was initiated by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, her son Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and daughter-in-law Trishika Kumari.
Members of Chamundeshwari MLA G T Devegowda’s family were also present. The procession lasted for over one hour and people gathered on either side of the procession route to have darshan of the deity.
Chief priest of the temple Shashisekhar Dixit said, “It is the anniversary of the presentation of the procession deity of the goddess. In earlier days, there was no utsava murthy. The Wadiyar kings presented the idol since the vardhanti is being celebrated. The descendants of the Wadiyar kings present a saree to the deity on this day.”
The rituals which included ‘abhyanjana snana’, ‘mahanyasa purvaka rudrabhisheka’, ‘sahasranama’ and ‘mangalarathi’ started at 4 am and went on for next three hours. The corridors outside the sanctum sanctorum were decorated with a variety of flowers. The district administration and the police department had made elaborate arrangements for systematic movement of devotees by erecting barricades. The celebrations were held upto 9.30 pm, including ‘abhisheka’ from 6 pm to 7.30 pm, and durbar mantapothsava from 8.30 to 9.30 pm.
Pvt bus service
In the wake of the strike by KSRTC employees, the district administration had roped in 25 private buses to offer shuttle service from Lalitha Mahal Palace helipad to the hill at a nominal fare of Rs 10 per trip per person. However, some devotees were seen complaining that a few bus operators were charging Rs 15. Normally, KSRTC used to provide free shuttle service during vardanti.
In city
To mark the vardhanti of Chamundeshwari, various organisations had installed idols of the goddess in pandals, offered puja and took out procession in different parts of the city. Most of them offered ‘prasada’ to the devotees. Vijayanagara Yoganarasimhaswamy Auto Drivers and Residents Balaga, Auto Drivers’ Association of De Javaregowda Circle on Kalidasa Road of VV Mohalla, Auto Drivers Association of Krishna Vilas Road, Kurubara Srirama Mandira of Chamaraja Mohalla 6th Cross, Chamundeshwari temple of Vidyanagar 6th Cross, Bhavasara Kshathriya Chamundeshwari Yuvaka Mandali of Lashkar Mohalla and Jai Maruthi Sneha Balaga of KR Mohalla distributed rice items and sweets as ‘prasada’ to devotees.