The Hindu : Karnataka News : Teertodbhava occurs amid chanting of hymns

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 18, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Others

Teertodbhava occurs amid chanting of hymns

By Our Staff Correspondent

Devotees thronging the place where Teertodbhava occurred at Talacauvery on Sunday.

TALACAUVERY (KODAGU DISTRICT), OCT. 17. Amid chanting of hymns by a group of archaks, the annual Teertodbhava occurred here at 1.36 p.m. on Sunday. Several thousands of devotees watched auspicious event.

The congregation of people was unusually large when compared to the crowd in the last five years.

A large number of devotees had come from all over the district, other parts of the State such as Mysore, Bangalore, Mandya, Puttur, Mangalore, Kundapur, Hassan and Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh to witness the occurrence.

Mahamangalarati was offered to goddess Cauvery in front of the Brahma Kundike by a team of archaks, which included Sripati Achar, Gopalachar and Narayanachar, just before the Teertodbhava.

The police could not control the devotees who broke the barricade and dived into the main tank situated in front of the Brahma Kundike.

Decoration

Earlier, the heads of Balladka and Kodi families brought the "abharana" (jewels) and "bhandara" from Bhagamandala to bedeck goddess Cauvery here.

Devotees had their heads tonsured at Bhagamandala right from the morning and took a dip at the Triveni Sangama, the confluence of the Cauvery, the Kannike and the Sujyoti.

Water flow in the sangama is lean.

The devotees then went to offer puja at the Bhagandeshwara Temple complex later. The large number of vehicles arriving in the twin towns caused traffic bottlenecks on the Bhagamandala-Talacauvery route throughout the day.

The police had a tough time controlling the surging crowd. They had also to make space for vehicles to be parked.

Stalls

The departments of Health, Horticulture and others have put up stalls at Bhagamandala. The Hindu Jagarana Vedike, the Kodagu Ekikarana Ranga, the Kodava Samaja, Virajpet, the Kashi Math, Chettiyars, Mandya Anna Santarpana Samiti distributed free food to devotees visiting the shrines at Bhagamandala and here.

The Department of Kannada and Culture and the Coorg Temple Funds Management Committee organised devotional songs and bhajans.

The district administration had put up pandals adjoining the Brahma Kundike and near the cultural programme area for people to take shelter as it started to rain one hour after the Teertodbhava.

Despite the downpour, devotees collected "teerta" (holy water) that kept springing from the Brahma Kundike even as archaks performed "prokshane".

Arrangements

A number of stalls have come up at Bhagamandala selling bangles, eatables, fancy and puja items and others.

The district administration has made arrangements to illuminate the twin towns. Use of plastic has been banned in Bhagamandala and Talacauvery.

Liquor banned

The sale of liquor and meat too has been prohibited. A number of temporary toilets have been put up and drinking water arrangements made.

Mobile health units have been deployed in the town. The KSRTC operated special jatra services from all parts of the State.

Among those who were present to watch the spectacle were the MP, Prema Cariappa, the district in-charge Minister, Tanvir Sait, them MLC, C.S. Arun Machaiah, the Madikeri MLA, K.G. Bopaiah, the Virajpet MLA, H.D. Basavaraj, the Kodagu Zilla Panchayat president, Chitra Ramesh, the Technical Advisor to the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam, T.D. Manmohan, the Deputy Commissioner, Srikant Valagad, the Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat, P.L. Budihal, and the Superintendent of Police, Devajyoti Ray.

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