Curtains down on Mangaluru Dasara as devotees bid adieu to Goddess

Mangaluru: This year’s ten-day Mangaluru Dasara celebrations ended on Friday, October 19, with the highlight of the season- the grand procession of the deities.

The procession began in the evening from the Kudroli Shree Gokarnanatheshwara Temple and is scheduled to end early in the morning on October 20, 12 hours later, as opposed to the usual 16 hours, at Pushkarini pond inside the Kudroli temple premises.

As part of the celebration, the idols of Navadurga, goddess Sharada Devi and Lord Ganapathi were taken in the procession through the city. Scores of people joined in the celebration. The crowd was two times bigger than usual as it is the weekend. Former Union minister B Janardhan Poojary, who is the guiding force behind the signature event, was present and took part in the traditional rituals at the temple before the grand procession was kicked-off.

The resplendent event had about 75 tableaus that served a lavish spectacle to the onlookers. Several tableaus carrying the ‘tiger dancers’, and a few breaking out of the routine and trying out something creative- may it be a horror show or some other theme based tableau, attracted the attention. The highlight of this year’s Dasara is the participation of Mangaluru’s first all-girl Pili Vesha troupe under the aegis of the reputed Barke Friends. As many as 16 young girls aged between 5 and 17 years, gave a tough competition to their male counterparts.

Mangaluru city’s streets were lit up by the Kudroli Dasara committee, several days ahead of the festival.

The celebration was inaugurated by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on October 14.

Meanwhile, the procession and immersion of Goddess Sharada installed at Car Street will be held on Saturday, October 20.