Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Feb 15: The annual Shivaratri festival will be celebrated at Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatheshwara temple here from February 25 to March 4. During this period, a beautiful silver chariot will be dedicated to the Lord.

This new silver chariot is 18’6” tall and its circumference is 8’6”. It is being gifted to the temple by local entrepreneur, Ramesh Kumar, his wife, Urmila Ramesh Kumar, and their family members. The chariot, which weighs 4.500 kgs, contains 225 kgs of silver. The chariot has been carved and chiselled under the leadership of sculptor Ramachandra Acharya from Kuntady, Karkala, since about a year.

This chariot will be brought to the city in an elaborate procession that will leave Kuntady on February 18. The route of the procession will be Nitte, Belman, Padubidri, Mulky, Haleangady, Suratkal, Kulai, Kottara Chowki, Lady Hill and Mannagudda in the city. The silver chariot will be atop a trolley, surrounded by motor bikes. Various organizations will welcome the chariot on its route, and a grand welcome at the temple by people from various communities and religions, is being organized under the leadership of Janardan Poojary. The chariot will be preserved in a separate shed in the temple compound, and people will be given the opportunity to view it.

Temple managing committee president, H S Sairam, treasurer, Padmaraj R, and development committee member, Harikrishna Bantwal, provided this information at a press conference held here on Monday Febaury 14. Various other office bearers were also present at the press conference.