Nanjungud, the temple town, came alive with a sea of devotees taking part in the Srikanteshwara temple car festival in Mysuru district on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Nanjungud, the temple town, came alive with a sea of devotees taking part in the Srikanteshwara temple car festival in Mysuru district on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Devotees in thousands took part in the famed Pancha Maha Rathotsava, conducted with religious fervour in Nanjangud, on Wednesday.
The temple town, which is called Dakshina Kashi and known for the Sri Nanjundeshwara or Srikanteshwara temple, came alive with religious frenzy with the devotees congregating in large numbers for the annual event from different parts of the State.
Located about 26 km from Mysuru and on the banks of the river Kapila, Nanjangud is a sacred pilgrimage centre since time immemorial. The Pancha Maha Rathotsava – which is also known as Doddajathre in the local parlance – is one of the biggest chariot or car festivals of the State.
It features five chariots, which are pulled by devotees, and they are Sri Ganesha Ratha, Gautama Ratha, which is dedicated to the principal deity Lord Srikanteshwara, Parvathi Ratha, Subramanya Ratha, and Chandikeshwara Ratha.
The rituals associated with the car festival and special religious rites to the main shrine and the processional idol commenced at midnight and continued through dawn, after which the processional idol of Srikanteshwara was placed on the Gautama Ratha at 5.40 a.m. A battery of priests, led by Nagachandra Dikshit, conducted the ceremonies, including homas, after which the devotees began pulling the five chariots.
The five rathas were decorated with buntings and flowers, and the devotees surged forward to get their hands on the rope and pull the chariot.
The first of the five chariots to get off the block was the Ganesha Ratha followed by other chariots which moved slowly along the 1.5 km long Ratha Beedi and circumambulated the temple. The cynosure of all eyes was the Gautama Ratha, which is about 90 feet tall and weighs nearly 110 tonnes. A special squad clad in uniform monitored the movement of the five Rathas.
As is the practice, devotees had begun congregating in Nanjangud since Tuesday, and by midnight, the temple town was overflowing with a sea of humanity. People had occupied vantage points along the streets and atop commercial buildings surrounding the street to get a glimpse of the proceedings. Though the car festival was over by 7 a.m. there was no let up in the arrival of devotees to the temple town throughout the day, to visit the main temple.
The authorities had ensured an adequate flow of water in the river, and the bathing ghats were spruced to facilitate the devout to take a sacred dip before participating in the religious event. Security had been beefed up to ensure the smooth conduct of the car festival. Volunteers were distributing buttermilk and other coolants to help devotees quench their thirst from the searing heat.
MLA for Nanjangud Darshan Dhruvanarayan, senior officials of the district administration, including Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, and others were present.
Published – April 09, 2025 06:08 pm IST
