Ayudha Puja tomorrow

• CM Yediyurappa to inaugurate Jumboo Savari on Oct.8
• City teeming with tourists, thanks to long weekend

Mysuru: Ayudha Puja, also called ‘Astra Puja’ or ‘worship of weapons’ will be celebrated in city tomorrow, the ninth day of Navaratri.

Vijayadashami, marking the culmination of the 10-day Dasara festival, will be celebrated the day after, on Oct.8 where the grand procession and the ceremonial Torchlight Parade will be held.

Mysuru city is sporting a bridal look with illumination around 90-kilometre area. The city is teeming with tourists and ever since the festivities began on Sept.29, there has been a steady flow of tourists.

Tourist arrival peaked yesterday due to long weekend stretching till Tuesday.

Even intermittent rain and the resultant traffic jams during the night have not deterred tourists who are crowding the streets to see all the hues.

This morning, thousands of people came to the temporary and permanent markets set up across the city to purchase puja items and despite spiralling prices of flowers, banana stalk and ash gourd, people bought sufficient quantities of the necessities. 

Vehicle owners were seen queuing up in front of service stations to get their vehicles washed and cleaned for the auspicious occasion. 

Places including Devaraja Market, Sayyaji Rao Road, Chikka Gadiyara, J.K. Grounds Road, Dhanvantri Road, Valmiki Road, V.V. Puram, Vontikoppal, Nanjumalige Circle, Ballal Circle, Kuvempunagar Complex, Mandi Market, Akki Chowk, Agrahara, Bandipalya and M.G. Road witnessed moderate to heavy crowds. All these places are likely to witness more rush in the evening and tomorrow morning for last-minute purchases. 

As part of Ayudha Puja rituals inside the Palace,  titular head of Mysore Royal Family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar will offer prayers to the royal armoury — swords, guns and daggers — of the Wadiyar dynasty. Royal horses and elephants will also be worshipped. 

Delayed start of procession

This year, there will be a delayed Jumboo Savari inauguration on Oct. 8. It will be between 4.31 pm and 4.57 pm. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa will inaugurate the procession (Jumboo Savari) at the Palace premises in the auspicious Kumbha Lagna between 4.31 pm and 4.57 pm on Oct. 8 in the presence of Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar as the chief guest. It may be recalled here that last year, the procession was inaugurated between 3.40 pm and 4.10 pm.

Prior to the Jumboo Savari inauguration, Nandi Dhwaja Puja will be performed at the Palace North Gate (Balarama Gate) between 2.15 pm and 2.58 pm in Makara Lagna. A host of dignitaries including Mysuru District Minister V. Somanna, Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath and MLA S.A. Ramdas and others will be present. 

After culmination of the procession, the Torchlight Parade will take place at the Torchlight Parade Ground in Bannimantap, with Governor Vajubhai R. Vala inaugurating the event at 7 pm.