BENGALURU: Sankranti, the harvest festival, and the first of the new year, was celebrated with much fervour across the state. Special pujas were conducted at many temples which were beautifully decorated for the occasion.
Children and women distributed ‘ellu-bella’ (a mixture of white sesame seeds, jaggery, fried gram, copra, groundnuts among others) while sweet and khara pongal is an integral part of the celebration. The festival marks the day when the Sun travels from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana. Many people queued up at temples right from early in the morning across the state.
The historical Gavi Gangadhareshwara cave temple in Gavipura will witness the annual phenomenon when the Sun rays enter the sanctum sanctorum of the and fall directly on the Shivalinga for three minutes between 5.20 pm and 5.23 pm today. The temple authorities have put up two large LED screens and five TVs for devotees to watch the phenomenon as the temple will be closed at that time.
At Yarab Nagar in Banashankari Stage II, members of the Hindu and Muslim communities exchanged ‘ellu-bella’ at an event organsied by the Souharda Karnataka Vedike.
At the Gangadhareshwara Swami temple atop Shivaganga Hills, the Girija Kalyana ceremony was held and devotees also witnessed the ‘thirtodbhava’. Villagers of Thippenahalli offered special prayers at the Katumarayanahalli temple, which is believed to have a history of hundreds of years. In the evening, the ‘kichchu hayiso’ ritual will be held when oxen are made to jump over fire.
The Sun’s rays fell on the Shivalinga and the Parvathi idol at the Kashi Chandramouleshwara Swami temple at Chandravana Ashram in Srirantapatna at 7.50 am. Special pujas were conducted right from morning and scores of devotees witnessed the event.
Special prayers were also held at the Ghati Subramanya temple in Doddaballapur taluk which saw a crowd of devotees. Villagers of Madhuranahosahalli in Doddaballapur taluk celebrated the festivals by singing bhajans of Lord Ram right from the morning and taking out procession.
Thousands of devotees also thronged the Kapileshwara temple in Belagavi which is popular as the Dakshina Kashi. This is the only temple where the idols of Hari and Hara face each other and it is believed that the Shivalinga emerged after penance by Sage Kapila.