Mandya: Thousands of devotees thronged the temple town of Melukote in Pandavapura taluk to take part in the annual Vairamudi Brahmarathotsava of Lord Cheluvarayaswamy held atop the hill yesterday.

Devotees from Mandya, Bengaluru, Mysuru and neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala visited Melukote and took part in the festivities. The district administration had made all arrangements for the devotees atop the hill along with special buses from Mysuru, Bengaluru and Mandya.

The Vairamudi festivities which began at about 9 pm went on till late in the night. Earlier, the diamond-studded Vairamudi was handed over to the head priest of Melukote by the district administration at the district treasury.

Special pujas were offered to Vairamudi at Sri Lakshmi Janardhana Temple in Mandya before it was taken to Melukote under tight Police security.

Villagers were seen offering puja to the Vairamudi enroute the hill top.