Fire rituals, traditions mark Sankranti in old Mysuru region

Residents of Mysuru city celebrated Sankranti festival with religious fervour on Saturday.
Celebrations commenced on Friday evening with women decorating their homes with rangolis and offering pujas. A large number of people offered prayers at temples in the city from early in the morning and also distributed sweets including jaggery and sesame or ‘Ellu Bella’ to their friends and well-wishers. People also enjoyed delicious food in the afternoon after performing a variety of rituals.

In rural areas, celebrations were more traditional. Farmers mark the festival as the onset of harvest season. As part of the celebration, they decorated, worshipped oxen and also sprinkled cattle with turmeric water.

In Siddalingapura on Mysuru-Bengaluru highway near Mysuru, the festival was celebrated in a traditional manner. A large number of people, including a few foreign visitors, gathered in the village to enjoy the sights of oxen jumping over fire. The farmers also worshipped food grains and other crops in the villages.

In the evening children and women distributed sesame and jaggery to their neighbours, friends and well-wishers.

In Hassan too, the celebration was grand and significant across the district. In Kabballi, Hirisave hobli, Channarayapatna taluk, Nirmalanandanatha Swami of Adichunchanagiri Mutt offered special prayers to Basaveshwara Swami in the temple on Friday night.

Devotee Kiran Kumar of Tuppadahalli offered silver ornaments weighting 12 kg to the temple. Thousands of devotees took part in the special rituals. A large number of devotees from Channarayapatna, Turuvekere, Tiptur, Arsikere and other places came in a procession to participate in the rituals.

In Chamarajanagar too, Sankranti celebration was grand and a large number of devotees thronged temples and several mahotsavas marked the festival. As part of the festival Kumbeshwara jatramahotsava was organised at Karadihalla village in Chamarajanagar taluk.