Ashada rush at Hill Temple

• Thousands of devotees visit Chamundeshwari Temple
• Private vehicles to the hilltop banned for the weekend

Mysuru: Thousands of devotees from Mysuru and surrounding districts visited Sri Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hill here on the occasion of the first Ashada Friday.

Devotees were seen assembling at the Shashiranjan Grounds, located near Hotel Lalitha Mahal Palace, early in the morning to board the KSRTC buses to the hilltop. The authorities have banned private vehicles to hilltop during the weekends to avoid rush. Instead, KSRTC will be operating buses on regular intervals during weekends in the month of Ashada.

The District Administration had made separate arrangement for parking of four wheelers and two wheelers, drinking water and shelter for the devotees. Mobile toilets were also arranged for both men and women. CCTV camera was installed along with deploying police personnel to keep a vigil.

Devotees were seen purchasing Rs. 2,000 tickets for the special darshan at the ticket counters in Shashiranjan Grounds following which they boarded the Volvo AC buses and were taken to the hill temple. Meanwhile, devotees who chose for the regular darshan, boarded the regular KSRTC buses standing in separate queues.

Special buses for devotees

This year, KSRTC will be operating 20 Volvo buses for the special darshan and 50 regular buses for the regular darshan along with regular buses that ply from city bus stand.  Apart from boarding the buses, devotees were seen climbing hill steps to visit the temple. Devotees were seen applying turmeric (arishina) and vermillion (kumkum) while climbing the step as part of their vow to the goddess.

Meanwhile, the puja rituals at the hill temple began as early as 3.30 am under the guidance of Temple Chief Priest Dr. Shashishekar Dixit. Later, the temple doors were opened at 5.30 am for the devotees.

Usha Shivakumar, wife of Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, arriving at the hill temple this morning.

VIPs visit hill temple

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his wife Usha Shivakumar presented Goddess Chamundeshwari with a green silk saree which was draped to main idol. While, CM D.K. Shivakumar was not able to visit the temple, his wife Usha visited the temple this morning and offered special prayers. Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda, who had sponsored for the temple decoration, visited with his family members.

Other VIPs and celebrities, who visited hill temple include former Minister H.D. Revanna, former Mayor Sandesh Swamy, actor Darshan’s wife Vijayalakshmi, MLA Basavaraj Pail Yatnal, CESC Chairman, Srirangapatna MLA Ramesh Babu Bandisiddegowda, DC G. Lakshmikanth Reddy and his wife Karishma Desai among others.

District Minister Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah and former MLA M.K. Somashekar at Chamundi Hill.

Dr. Yathindra arrives late

Meanwhile, Urban Development Minister Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, who arrived atop at the temple post VIP darshan timing, did not visit the temple stating that it would be a violation of the rules farmed by the District Administration. Instead, he inspected the arrangements made atop the hill for the devotees before leaving the temple premises.

DC G. Lakshmikanth Reddy and his wife Karishma Desai performing special puja at the hill temple.

Decorations

The main idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari will be decorated as different forms of Goddess Lakshmi during the Ashada Fridays. Meanwhile, the ustava murthi of the deity was decorated as Goddess Nagalakshmi today.

On the day of vardhanthi (Aug. 4), Goddess Chamundeshwari will be decorated in Mahisasura Mardhini avatar. Today being the first Ashada Friday, the second Ashada Friday is on July 24, third Ashada Friday on July 31 and the fourth and last Ashada Friday will be on Aug. 7.  

As part of the security measures, a large number of civil  police personnel were deployed atop the hill. CCTVs were installed in the temple surroundings and a cameraman was also seen recording the movement of the public and VIPs at the temple entrance.

Meanwhile, the temple authorities had also placed grills on top of the barricades to avoid devotees from jumping lanes. Ambulance, health centres, drinking water arrangements and mobile toilets were also arranged for the benefit of the public and the devotees .