The week-long ‘Lakshadeepotsava’ celebrations at Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala began with ‘Hosakatte Utsava’ on Friday night.
The idol of Lord Manjunath, the presiding deity in the temple, was carried in a palanquin in a grand procession. The idol was also carried in a silver chariot before shifting it to the sanctum sanctorum.
Earlier in the day, thousands of devotees participated in the padayatra organised as a part of Lakshadeepotsava celebrations for the past six years.
Devotees from Charmady, Ujire, Guruvyankere, Madanthyar, Venur, Aladangaduy, Naravi and surrounding villages participated in the padayatra which begun from Shri Janardhana temple in Ujire.
The procession ended in front of Dharmasthala temple.
Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade, addressing the devotees who had participated in the procession, said the padayatra organised in a perfect harmony had sent a message of peaceful co-existence to the world.
‘’Troubles in life are not permanent. Only hard work, faith and devotion will help us to survive in this world, which is forever changing,” Dr Heggade said.
BJP MLA Harish Poonja, BJP Leader Pratapsimha Nayak, MLC Harish Kumar, Shri Janaradhan temple Managing Trustee Vijay Raghava Padvetnaya among others were also present.