Silvester D'Souza 

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (MS) 

Kundapur, Aug 1: The no moon day (Amavasye) of Ashada month of Hindu calendar has historical prominence. It gets special significance at the Maravanthe Sri Maraswamy temple of the taluk, where the devotees take bath in the sea from dawn to dusk. Such a grand sight was seen at Sri Maraswamy Temple on Thursday, August 1, the day of no moon day of the Ashada month for the year 2019. 

This temple has got special place in the Hindu epics. It is believed that the Linga, that was established by Devendra, itself is the present Gangadhareshwara temple. Later, this temple was re-established by a king belonging to the Kshatra lineage, who got a vision to install three idols of Varaha, Vishnu and Narasimha in the Gangadhareshwara temple and rename it as Sri Maharaja Swamy Sri Varaha temple.  

‘Abhari’ is the main and special ritual of this temple. In this ritual, the fishermen offer thanks to the God Sri Varaha for giving rain and harvest at right time and also for protecting them from the perils of the sea while they go for fishing. This programme is conducted once in three years by the villagers of Nada Hadavu.

Every year during the Ashada Bahula Amavasye day, a grand fair is held. Though this festival falls in the month of monsoon season, the devotees partake in the festival without any fear of getting drenched in the rain. Another specialty of this festival is that the newly married couples have to visit this temple and offer pooja and take the prasada. Newly married couples from various places come here and offer their obeisance to God. 

Apart from the grand celebration of Ashada Amavasya, every no moon day, ‘Kushmanda’ and ‘Tila Homa’ rituals are held for the salvation of the departed souls. 

Earlier, there were no problems with regard to vehicle parking, even though devotees from various places arrived in large numbers. However, since the last two years, due to the widening of the national highway, parking of vehicles has become difficult near the beach. The devotees have to walk a distance of three km to reach the temple.