Thousands of devotees witnessed the Chamundeshwari rathothsava conducted with traditional fanfare and religious frenzy on Sunday.
The idol of the deity was duly decorated for the event and was placed in the ratha amidst the chanting of hymns and playing of traditional music in the backdrop.
This was preceded by a series of rituals. G.T. Deve Gowda, S.A.amdas, and L. Nagendra, MLAs; and members of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru including Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, and Trishika Kumari Wadiyar witnessed the proceedings.
After the culmination of the rituals the chariot was drawn by Yaduveer and he was joined by the devotees even as the ensemble of traditional musicians played devotional music. Crackers were lit even as folk arists entered the fray lending a colourful touch to the event that was out of bounds for the public for two years due to the pandemic.
The chariot with the deity completed the circumambulation around the Chamundeswari temple in about an hour after which the devotees made a beeline to offer their prostrations in front of the ratha. There was a security cordon around the ratha carrying the utsava murthy or the idol studded with precious jewelry. There are a series of religious events lined up till October 14 as part of the rathothsava.
The devotees began assembling at Chamundi Hills in large numbers at dawn and the crowd swelled by the minute and every inch and corner surrounding the main temple was occupied.
Though the rathothsava culminated at around 9 a.m, there was a steady flow of devotees throughout the day which added to congestion on the hill top. Being Sunday there was tourist rush as well and many visitors were unaware of the rathothsava and were caught off guard by the sheer number of devotees. The parking lot was full and many of the vehicles were stranded on the road due to the crowd adding to the congestion.
