‘Brahma Ratha’ to reach Kukke temple today

The journey of ‘Brahma Ratha’, a beautiful car, donated by reformed don and Founder of Jaya Karnataka N Muttappa Rai and businessman Ajit Shetty Kadaba, resumed from Kadri on Tuesday morning.

The truck carrying the ratha had begun its journey from Koteshwara in Udupi on Monday and will reach Kukke Sri Subrahamanya temple, about 106 km, on Wednesday.

The wooden car was built at a total cost of Rs 2.50 crore. The work on the ratha had begun on March 13, 2018, under the leadership of Shilpa Guru Rathashilpi Koteshwara Lakshminarayana Acharya, credited with building more than 116 wooden cars.

The carvings on the ratha depict episodes from ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’. In addition, there are carvings on ‘Parvathi Kalyana’, ‘Daksha Yajna’, ‘Puthrakameshti Yaga’ and others.

The ratha has six wheels. Wood from trees like Teak, ‘Hebbalasu’ and ‘Bogi’ that are found in Subrahmanya region were used for building the ratha. The ratha weighs 35 tonnes and 42 sculptors, led by Acharya, had worked hard to complete it.

The dimensions of the new ratha is exactly the same as that of the existing one. At the temple, the ‘Brahma Ratha’ is taken out during the ‘Champa Shashti’ festival.

The Ratha began its journey from Koteshwara, where it was built, on Monday.

District In-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary had flagged off the wooden car that travelled via Mulki- Bappanadu and reached Kadri on Monday evening.

The ratha will stop at Kadaba on Tuesday evening and will reach Kukke on Wednesday (4 pm).

Temple Managing Committee President Nityananda Mundodi said, ‘’The existing ratha is more than 400 years old. The temple authorities had been planning to build a new car for many years now. When the work began, Muthtapa Rai and Ajith Shetty came forward to fund it’’.

It may be recalled that Muthappa Rai had dedicated a magnificent ratha to Puttur Mahalingeshwara Temple in 2010. It was 71-ft high and weighed 40,000 kilograms.

Though the car will reach the temple on Wednesday, it will be dedicated during Deepavali.

The new ratha will also part of car festival during the Champa Shashti in December, sources added.