Devotees witness car festival at Antaraghatte

Hundreds of devotees participated in the grand car festival of Goddess Durgamba Devi at Antaraghatte in the taluk recently. The fair is considered to be one of the largest temple fairs in the plain region.

Raising slogans, devotees threw bananas and lemons on the chariot as it was pulled on the temple street. They also offered fruits and flowers to the deity. The procession idols of Goddesses Durgamba, Maralamma, Matangemma and Goni Maradamma were decorated with flowers and prayers were offered.

People from Shivamogga, Davanagere, Chitradurga and even Ballari districts had arrived for the car festival. Devotees came to the festival in tractors, trucks, buses, autorickshaws and even in bullock carts.

Assistant Commissioner Roopa, Ajjampura Tahsildar Vishweshwara Reddy and MLA D S Suresh visited the temple and offered prayers. Police personnel and home guards were deployed for security.

Drinking water facility was provided to both the people and the cattle.

Ravikumar, a devotee from Bhadravathi, said that movement of vehicles was severely affected as there was no separate road for the vehicles travelling towards the temple from the main road.

Hanumantappa, a resident of the village, said that the foul smell from the poultry shops on the temple road caused a lot of inconvenience to the devotees.