Grand chariot festival held under Covid-19 shadow

'Brahmarathotsava', the grand chariot festival of the historic Ganapathi Temple in the town, was held on Friday.

The chariot festival was observed on a simple note due to the Covid-19 situation.

Sacred ablutions and special prayers were offered to the presiding deity Lord Ganesha, as a part of the annual festival. Religious rituals were held under the guidance of temple chief priest R K Nagendra Babu.

A limited number of devotees who were present on the occasion pulled the grand chariot around the temple.

The devotees waited in a queue to have a glimpse of the lord at the temple and offered puja. The temple was decorated for the special occasion.

The car festival was initiated soon after ‘Mahamangalarathi’ in the morning.

The grand chariot was pulled from Ganapathi Temple to Sri Anjaneya Swamy Temple, through Car Street.

Normally, thousands of devotees gather for the Brahmarathotsava of the 400-year-old Ganapathi Temple.

However, the temple committee permitted only 50 devotees to pull the chariot, maintaining proper precautionary measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Programmes such as 100th gopura darshana, cultural programmes and cattle fair were cancelled.

Devotees crushed coconuts as ‘Edugayi’ offering during the car festival, to fulfil their vows.

People were served with prasadam meals.

Temple committee chairman V N Vasanth Kumar, secretary S K Shrinivas Rao and treasurer M K Dinesh were present.

Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan visited the temple.