M'lore: Sea of Devotees Add Grandeur to Annual Festivities of Mangaladevi Temple
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (GA)
Mangalore, Mar 20: The annual festivities of the historic Mangaladevi temple drew a large number of devotees to the temple square on Thursday March 19 evening.
The annual festivities that had begun on Sunday March 15 reached the crescendo on Thursday with the car festival. While rituals such as Ganahoma, Nava Kalashabhisheka, mahapuja etc were held under the guidance of temple priest Raghuram Upadhyaya during the day, bhootabali, kavata bandhana etc were held late on Thursday night after the car festival.
The temple situated at Bolar has influenced the name and importance of Mangalore. The name Mangalore is derived from Goddess Mangaladevi, the main deity of the temple.
The bright lights that illumined the temple were a special attraction. Men, women, children and youth participated in the festivities with zeal and religious fervour.