HUGE DEPICTION: Scene from `Gangavatharana' at the Kudroli Gokarnanatha temple, which is getting ready for the Dasara festivites in Mangalore from September 23.

MANGALORE: Dasara celebrations in Mangalore will begin on September 23 at the Kudroli Gokarnanatha Kshetra. This will be the 16th successive year that Dasara is being organised on a grand scale.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priyaranjan Dasmunsi will inaugurate the celebrations. B. Janardhana Poojary, MP, will preside.

According to the Harikrishna Buntwal, spokesperson of the Navarathri and Mangalore Dasara celebrations committee, the celebrations will begin with the blessings of Navadurgas at the temple. The nine-day festival will feature several religious and cultural programmes. The third day of the Navarathri Utsav will be dedicated to Sharada Mahotsava. A grand procession will feature over 100 tableaux from all over the State and neighbouring States on the last day. Several dance and folk troupes will participate in the 5-km procession.

A huge depiction of "Gangavatharana" (Ganga flowing from the crown of Lord Shiva) will be unveiled on the occasion. The depiction has four 13-ft idols of Shiva with waterspouts of 100 ft. The site would be lit with coloured lights on Saturdays and Sundays between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the temple premises. A wooden marriage mantapam with Vishnu kalyanam and Shiva kalyanam carvings will also be used on the occasion.

According to H.S. Sairam, president of the temple trust committee, the mantapam that is placed in the glass house in the temple complex will be given to poor people for weddings at subsidised rates.

According to Raghavendra Kulur, trustee of the temple, more than 10 lakh devotees from India and abroad will visit Mangalore during those nine days. Anna Prasadam will be given to those who visit the temple on the last day. The temple is expecting to receive more than 1.5 lakh devotees.

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