Udupi: Thousands Witness Ancient Tulunadu Celebration of 'Pilikola'
Inchara-Udupi
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (RD)
Udupi, May 7: ‘Pilikola’, an ancient traditional religious celebration, one among the seven ‘Jatras’ of erstwhile Tulunadu, which is held once in two years, began at Kaup, on Saturday May 5. In the past, it was held for nine days, but now it is held for five days.
Thousands of devotees from across the undivided Dakshina Kannada district and the natives of coastal district settled in Mumbai witnessed Pilikola on Saturday.
A man dressed as a tiger and possessed began hunting after knocking down a pole at about 2.30 pm on Saturday and roamed nearly two kilometers in Padu village in Kaup gram panchayat.
It is a belief handed down over generations together in the coastal district that whoever gets touched by the man dresses as the tiger, will either die before the event recurs of or be ridden with misfortune during the two years.
The tiger has touched five persons this year and a few of them have already made offerings at the temple in order to get rid of the imminent threat to their life or impending misfortune. Each time the tiger touched a person, he returned to the temple to celebrate his victory.