Bengaluru Karaga ends with grandeur

BENGALURU: The famous nine-day-long Draupadi Devi Karaga Shakthyotsava festival concluded early on Wednesday with religious grandeur at the Dharmaraya Swamy Temple at Thigalarapet in the city. Lakhs of devotees thronged the temple and offered prayers.

The Karaga festival has a history of over 300 years and is celebrated each year to mark the return of Draupadi in the form of Adishakti.

The Karaga procession, which started at 2 am from the Dharmarayaswamy temple, passed through the main streets of the city, offered prayers at various temples, and returned to the temple with a message of spirituality.

Karaga is a traditional celebration with its a unique history of eight centuries of glory. The concluding night is a special day for the Draupadi Devi Karaga, held for 10 days at the Dharmaraya Swamy temple in Thigalarapet. Thousands of devotees chanted “Govinda Govinda” loudly as the Karaga, an earthen pot bedecked with flowers, came out of the Dharmaraya temple, carried by priest Jnanendra.

As per tradition, the procession visited Mastan Dargah, where prayers were offered as a symbol of communal harmony. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also visited the Dharmaraya Swamy temple, had darshan of the goddess and witnessed the celebration.

Following the worship at the dargah, the Karaga procession reached Annamma temple and where prayers were offered. The Karaga procession also offered puja at a few other temples as per tradition. Following this, the procession returned to the Dharmaraya temple after sunrise.

As part of the rituals, the Dharmaraya temple priest is dressed in female attire and leads a spectacular procession to the accompaniment of dazzling swordplay by a number of dhoti-clad Thigalas. The priest carries a flower-bedecked earthen pot on his head, which is in the shape of a pyramid. A unique feature of the Karaga is the unbroken tradition of visiting the tomb of an 18th-century Muslim saint every year and the custom has become a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity.

The Karaga Mahotsava is becoming more popular with every passing year as more and more devotees take part in the rituals. The festival ended smoothly without any hiccups on Wednesday.