Madikeri: A swimming expert dived into River Cauvery to obtain a gold ornament lost by a woman at Bhagamandala yesterday. He earned public praises as he was successful n fishing out the ornament. There was heavy rush in Bhagamandala Triveni Sangama yesterday as Theerthodbhava took place at Talacauvery at 12.57 am on the intervening night of Oct. 17 and 18. People crowded the Sangama for the ritual of Pinda Pradhan to family elders. 

Taking part in the ritual, one woman lost her Kodava traditional ‘Kokkethathi’ in the river while she was bathing. The ‘Kokkethathi’ was worth Rs. 40,000. Realising the ornament missing after coming to the banks of the river, the woman sought help of swimmers to look out for the jewel. 

Expert swimmer Kotholira Ravi Muthappa dived into the river at the place where the woman’s family bathed and after a couple of minutes, he fished out the ‘Kokkethathi’ pendant.