Mangaluru, Sep 24 (PTI) The Dasara Mahotsav is to be celebrated by the century-old Gokarnanatha temple at Kudroli here on a grand scale from September 26 to October 6 this year, temple managing committee president H S Sairam said Saturday.

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Addressing a press meet here, daily poojas, including ‘pushpalankara mahapooja,' would be held at the temple. The ‘Bhajana' programme would be from 7 PM to 8 PM, he said.

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Devotees would be provided food as part of the ‘annadana' programme. Cultural programmes, including Bali Utsav, would be held in the evenings.

Various rituals for the deity would be performed on all the nine days of the celebrations. The Dasara procession would begin at 4 PM on October 5.

The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) would illuminate all the prominent spots in the city during the festival.

Sairam said all the events of the temple would be held under the leadership of temple patron and former Union Minister B Janardhan Poojary. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would be invited to attend the festival.

Temple committee secretary Madhava Suvarna and treasurer Padmaraj, who were present, said a huge turnout is expected for the festival as it could not be held in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)