Thousands of devotees witness auspicious Cauvery Theerthodbhava at Talacauvery

Madikeri: Amidst Vedic chantings, a sea of devotees witnessed Cauvery Theerthodbhava at Talacauvery, the birthplace of River Cauvery in Kodagu, on Thursday. The river water sprang from the sacred pond of Brahma Kundike during the Theerthodbhava at 7.41am during the Tula Lagna.

After priests performed various pujas offering turmeric, kumkumam, and flowers to the pond, they sprinkled holy water on the devotees. Many Kodava devotees came walking barefoot from Bhagamandala in traditional dress. After Theerthodbhava, the devotees took a bath in the pond and carried the holy water in cans.

Prashant Achar, Gururaj, Raviraj, Vittal Achar, and Sudhir Achar performed the rituals. The district administration and police department made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the festival. The Muzrai department made necessary preparations for the observance of all kinds of religious rites and rituals.

Bhagamandala and Talacauvery pilgrim centres were decorated with lights and flowers. Lighting was also provided on the Bhagamandala-Talacauvery route. Precautionary measures were taken by installing barricades in necessary places to control the crowd. Adequate security was provided around the area by the district police.

A mass feeding programme was organised by various religious organisations. However, the Kodagu Ekikarana Ranga organisation will continue mass feeding for a month. The organisation also provided breakfast on Thursday.

From 5am, the road leading from Bhagamandala to Talacauvery was jammed. During previous years' celebrations, arrangements were made for parking vehicles in Bhagamandala, and then special buses were allowed to leave to Talacauvery. However, this time, all the vehicles were allowed to go to Talacauvery directly, which resulted in a traffic jam, with police, information department, ambulance, and various department vehicles stuck in traffic during the early hours.

District in-charge minister NS Boseraju, legal adviser to chief minister and Virajpet MLA AS Ponnanna, Madikeri MLA Manthar Gowda, DC Venkat Raja, SP Ramarajan K, ASP Sundar Raj, and others were present.