Mysuru: It was a feast to the eyes of hundreds of devotees of Goddess Chamundeshwari, who climbed a few steps down the hill to witness the Abhisheka to the famous Nandi statue atop Chamundi Hill, which was given a fresh look recently by water jet cleaning.

The Abhisheka was performed by the members of the Chamundi Betta Mettalu Hattuva Balaga (Chamundi Hill Climbing Members Association) for the seventh year in a row, here today.

The Abhisheka is performed on the first Monday of Kartika Month every year. There were 47 types of Abhishekas performed. The special puja began early in the morning by offering parayaya and chanting shlokas. The Abhisheka began at 11 am with milk, curds and ghee poured on the Nandi from a raised platform. Abhisheka of dry grapes and dates, kumkum and turmeric, basma (Vibhuti or ash), different types of fruits and flowers followed this.

President of the Balaga Subramanya Raj Urs, speaking to Star of Mysore said, “A few of us have been climbing the Chamundi Hill with 1000 steps regularly for years. We noticed that except a few persons who perform the puja, the beautifully carved Nandi statue had been largely neglected. Hence, we decided to offer Abhisheka on the first Monday of the Kartika month, to the Nandi statue. We started this practise seven years ago and we are continuing it every year.” According to Urs the different types of Abhishekas include using Pala-Pushpa (fruits and flowers), Dravya, milk, curd, tender coconut, Panchamrutha, Padya, Argya, Acha Manan, sugar and ghee.  Nearly eight to ten priests performed the Abhisheka for two-and-a-half hours that ended at 1.30 pm.  Mahadev, Praveen Venkatesh, Srinivas, Nagesh, Sridhar, Vinay, Ekambara and others participated in the Abhisheka.