Over 1 lakh devotees throng Chamundi Hills for first Ashada Friday puja

Over 1 lakh devotees from across Karnataka and other states thronged Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hills for special pujas and darshan of Goddess on the occasion of first Friday of Ashada month of Hindu calendar.

Long queues did not deter the spirit of devotees who waited for one to three hours to have darshan of the Goddess in 'Lakshmi Alankara'.

The temple was decorated with corns, sugarcane and coconuts painted in gold colour; purple and pink chrysanthemum, yellow marigold and rose buds.

Over 1,200 police personnel have been deployed to ensure chaos-free darshan of Goddess. Mysuru District Administration led by DC Dr K V Rajendra and Mysusu City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth oversaw the security arrangements.

Special pujas such as 'Mahaanyasaka Poorvaka Panchamrutha Abhisheka' and 'Rudrabhisheka' were performed for the Goddess from as early as 3:30 am, according to temple chief priest N Shashishekar Dixit.

Devotees were allowed to climb the hill via steps from 3 am and they were allowed to enter for darshan in three queues from 5.30 am. One of the queues was for free darshan, the other two were for Rs 300 and Rs 50 ticket holders. Senior citizens above 65 years were allowed free of cost in the queue line of Rs 50 ticket holders. The devotees can visit the temple for darshan till 9:30 pm tonight.

As many as 80 KSRTC buses including 25 AC and 55 normal buses from the city bus stand have been arranged for devotees to go to the top of the hill between 5 am and 10 pm.

A large number of private cars and two wheelers were parked at a parking facility arranged at Lalitha Mahal ground as police had banned entry of private vehicles to the hill, except for VIPs.

Sri Chamundeshwari Seva Trust had arranged breakfast and lunch for over 30,000 devotees for the 18th year at the multi-level parking area. Devotees enjoyed pongal, rava vangibath, pineapple kesari bath for breakfast and a plantain leaf spread of bisi belebath, rice, sambar, curd, mango burfi, kosambari, sandige and pickle for lunch.

Mysore City Corporation too had deployed their staff and their vehicles, and had made systematic arrangements for disposal of waste to ensure cleanliness.

Several VIPs including actor Darshan and others paid obeisance to the Goddess.

According to Shashishekar Dixit, it is auspicious to worship 'Shakthi Devatha' in Ashada month as it is believed that by worshipping Goddess Chamundeshwari during this month would allow one to reap blessings equivalent to worshipping the Goddess for an entire year. Hence, a large number of people throng Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hills every year during this period.