Shivamogga: As the curtain comes down on the festive celebrations of “Dussehra”, the eye-catchy Dasara procession was flagged off by the Deputy Commissioner K A Dayanand who was also joined by the Shivamogga City Corporation Commissioner Charulatha Somal, here at the Shivappa Nayaka Fort on 19 October 2018.
According to the tradition, the procession began after the Nandi Puja and garlanding the idol.
The procession was observed passing Kote Road, Gandhi Bazar, Nehru Road, and also the main roads of the city, which eventually ended at Jail Road.
Most of the idols around the city were observed to be taken on a procession.
Tahsildar Satynarayana partook in the ‘Banni Mudi’, which is said to be an age-old ritual. Later a Ravan (demon king mentioned in Ramayan) effigy was burnt.
After the effigy was burnt, people gathered and exchanged greetings of fortune and shared the Banni leaf.
A cultural programme was organized, where people gathered were found rejoicing.
Meantime, an election awareness lecture was organized by the district administration titled “SVEEP” (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha by-poll.
Usually, every year the Dasara celebrations were observed at the NES Ground. As the ground fell short to accommodate a huge gathering the administration decided to shift the celebrations to Old Jail premises.
The Old Jail located at Shivamogga city is an empty area which spreads across 7-9 acres. This land was cleaned and kept tidy prior to the festive start off.
At the ‘Banni Mudi’ ritual DC KA Dayanand, Shivamogga City Corporation commissioner Charulatha Somal IAS, SP Abhinav Khare IPS and newly elected city corporation corporators were present.
