Lakhs of devotees take part in historic Bengaluru Karaga

BENGALURU: The city’s famous Draupadi Devi Karaga Shakthyotsava festival concluded with grandeur on Thursday midnight.

The Karaga Shaktyotsava festival started on Chaithra Pournami. The procession started at 2:24 am and the devotees offered prayers at the shrines outside the temple. The nightlong spectacle saw the Karaga, an earthen pot bedecked with flowers, carried by priest Jnanendra through various streets of the city.

Karaga festival is celebrated annually in the Chaithra month (March/April).

Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade participated in the religious rituals. The procession covered streets like Nagarthpet, Cubbonpet, Kote Anjaneya Temple and Balepet Annamma Devi temple and lakhs of devotees offered prayers.

Like every year, the procession visited Mastan Dargah where prayers were offered in a symbol of communal harmony in the city. After that, the Karaga procession returned to the Dharmaraya Swamy temple around 9 am on Friday.

The Karaga festival is considered one of the oldest in Karnataka. According to the Hindu calendar, it is celebrated annually in the Chaithra month (March/April). The festival is associated with the Thigala community, and it is an 11-day annual festival where they worship Draupadi as Adi Shakti. The festival has its roots in the epic ‘Mahabharataha’.

The word ‘Karaga’ translates to an earthen pot with floral decoration bearing an idol of a goddess which is carried by the Dharmaraya Swamy temple priest. To mark the end of the festival, devotees splash turmeric water on each other.