Datta Jayanti celebrations begin in Chikkamagalur today

CHIKKAMAGALUR: The Datta Jayanti celebrations began on Wednesday at the Kamadhenu Ganapati temple in Chikkamagaluru city. Legislative Council member C T Ravi, Sri Rama Sene founder Pramod Mutalik and Bajrang Dal leader Raghu Sakaleshpura, along with hundreds of devotees, participated in the event.

The Sri Rama Sene, which has been organising the Datta Jayanti festival separately for the past two decades, has merged with Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) after 20 years and is now celebrating the festival with them.

The devotees will observe a nine-day fast starting Wednesday, culminating in the Anusuya Jayanti celebration on December 2, where over 5,000 women are expected to participate. On December 3, a grand procession will be taken out in Chikkamagaluru city, with over 25,000 devotees participating. On December 4, devotees from across the state will visit the Datta Peetha to seek the blessings of Datta Paduka.

The festival will be celebrated with great fervor in the region, with over 20,000 devotees expected to visit the Datta Peetha on December 4. The last three days of the festival are expected to be sensitive, and thousands of police personnel will be deployed to maintain law and order in the district.