Thousands throng Chamundi Hills for first Ashada Friday

Thousands of people, including dignitaries like ministers and actors, thronged the Chamundi Hill, seeking the blessings of Chamundeshwari Devi on the occasion of the first Ashada Friday.

The temple was decorated with colourful flowers and the deity was adorned with gold ornaments and a silk saree. The people started visiting the temple from 3 am and special pujas commenced at 3.30 am.

Priests Shashidhar Dikshit and Deviprasad performed the rituals such as rudrabhisheka, panchamrutha abhisheka, kunkumarchane, sahasra namarchane among others. The devotees were allowed to enter the temple from 5.30 am up to 10 pm. Special abhisheka was performed to the devi between 6 pm and 7.30 pm.

According to the temple priests, the month of Ashada is considered inauspicious, but, people offer Shakti puja during the month. It is believed that performing puja to goddess Chamundeshwari, who is the embodiment of knowledge and power, brings prosperity. A large number of devotees smeared turmeric and vermillion to the 1,000 steps, leading to the hill shrine to fulfil their vows.

With the movement of private vehicles banned atop the hill, parking arrangements were made at Lalitha Mahal Palace helipad for private vehicles from where KSRTC buses were arranged to ferry the devotees. KSRTC had begun the service by ferrying devotees to the hill free of cost.

Several dignitaries, including Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, his wife Anitha, ministers H D Revanna, Sa Ra Mahesh, G T Devegowda, D K Shivakumar and film actor Darshan Thoogudeep, offered prayers. The police resorted to mild lathi charge to control the crowd when actor Darshan visited the temple.

Though the district administration had banned plastic covers, a few devotees were seen carrying the ‘banned carry bags’. A group of volunteers was seen educating and convincing the people not to carry plastic bags, which is harmful to the environment.

The temple authorities had organised Annasantarpane (mass feeding) for the devotees on the temple premises. Similarly, several private organisations and people distributed prasadam to the devotees atop the hill and also across the city.