Silverster D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (MS)

Kundapur, Dec 12: Thousands of devotees of the taluk and those who came from far off places witnessed the grand Brahma Rathostava of Shri Kotilingeshwara temple of Koteshwara near here that was held on Thursday, December 12.

The devotees took part in all the traditional religious rituals right from the early morning of Thursday. After taking bath in the historically famous Koti Theertha lake, the devotees spilled rice on the white cloth that was spread around the lake by devotees. This ritual is called as 'Suttakki Seve'. Then they made the darshan of the Lord and offered traditional pooja.

The Bamboo Kodi, Tandaveshwara Lord, Trishul, Gole God and Kotilingeshwara Utsava idols that were brought from the temple in a grand procession were welcomed by the devotees with chants of mantras. First the Bamboo Kodi was taken above the chariot which signifies that the chariot is hoisted. Later the idols of Tandaveshwara and Gole were placed on the chariot along with the Trishul (Trident).

Once the idols of Gods were kept on the chariot Nandalike P Raviraj Bhat did the Tandava Dance by holding the Utsava idol of Lord Kotilingeshwara on his head. As the devotees started chanting 'Hara Hara Mahadeva', Raviraj Bhat ascended the chariot along with the idol. Once the idol was placed on the chariot, pooja was offered and coconut and banana offering to the idol was done. This was followed by the traditional 'Mangalarathi'. Then the chariot was pulled through the Car Street. All the religious rituals were conducted under the leadership of Prasanna Kumar Aithal, priest of the temple.

Free beverages were offered to the public during the chariot festival by K V Anand Rao and Children from Davanagere. Hindu Jagarana Vedike Koteshwara also offered free buttermilk to the devotees. On the night of Thursday 'Veera Abhimanyu' Yakshagana play will be enacted by Shri Krishna Vadiraja Yaksharanaga Bengaluru, under the sponsorship of Mitradala Koteshwara. On the night of Friday, December 13, 'Sudhanva Moksha' Yakshagana play will be presented by Kotilingeshwara Kala Balaga Koteshwara, which will be sponsored by N R N Brothers.

President of management committee Gopalakrishna Shetty, members N Raghavendra Rao Neramballi, executive officer Ganesh Rao, former president of fisheries federation B Hiriyanna, eminent local personalities like M Sudhirkumar Shetty, Dinesh Kamath, Krishnadev Karanth Koni, Ashok Poojary, Dr Sudhakar Nambiar, Mahesh Poojari Kodi, Ramesh Bhat, Gururaj Rao, Prabhakar Shetty Vakwadi, ASP Hariram Shankar, circle inspector Manjappa and ASI Harish Naik were present.

The number of devotees for this year's festival was large compared to last year. Whole Koteshwar area was brimming with people. Police had done heavy bandobast to prevent any untoward incidents.