Pics by Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala (SP)
Karkala, Dec 7: Former member of Indian cricket team and renowned cricket commentator, Ravi Shastri, visited Lord Mahavishnumurty Temple and Nagabana in Karvalu near here on Tuesday December 6 and offered special puja.
Shastri was in Ahmedabad till late night on Monday and had functioned as commentator for the one-dayer against West Indies. He came to Mumbai on Tuesday morning by a flight, and then to Mangalore.
Shastri’s ancestors belonged to Karvalu, and the above deities are the ones they reposed faith in, and used to worship as family deities. He had visited the place five years ago along with his wife, and offered special puja to the serpent god. The couple, which had remained without any issue for long, got it’s daughter, Alaika, thereafter. Since then, he has been visiting the place annually and performing puja here. This happened to be his fifth visit in succession.
Ravi Shastri came to the village in the company of Dr Santoshkumar Shastri and Kavita S Shastri from Mangalore. He offered pujas to Lord Ganapati, Durgaparameshwari, serpent god and Lord Mahavishnumurty on the occasion.
Shastri has made donations to Bailoor School and Karvalu temple. During his visit, Ravi Shastri was honoured by K Somashekhar Rao and temple trust president, G Chandrashekhar Hegde, on behalf of the temple. Expressing gratefulness for the honour, Shastri said he has over a period of time, built an emotional bond with the place which used to be the native place of his ancestors. “I have special place in my heart for this village and the temple. After I started visiting this place, a number of changes have happened within me and in my life. I am grateful to the temple for bringing these changes,” he added.
During his visit, the cricketer felicitated Pramod Kumar, police sub-inspector of Karkala, who has succeeded in cracking a number of theft cases within a short period, and Jappu Chidananda Naik and Asha Naik couple, who have been sponsoring cricket events in Qatar. The programme was compered by Manohar Prasad, Mangalore bureau chief of ‘Udayavani’ Kannada daily. Vice-president of ‘Udayavani’, Anand K and H Yuvaraj Naik were present at the dais. A number of local dignitaries were also present.
Ravi Shastri stayed at Manipal on Tuesday night. He is scheduled to visit Shirur Mutt today, before proceeding to Indore via Mumbai.