By Team Mangalorean
Photographs: R. K. Bhat

Dharmasthala Dec 27: On the occasion of Mahamastakabhisheka to be organised for Lord Bahubali from Jan 28 to Feb 2, apart from religious rituals, a cultural extravaganza by national level renowned artistes, literary festival by scholars as well as an exhibition has been planned.

Speaking to presspersons on Tuesday, Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade informed about the preparations being undertaken for the celebration. The Mahamastakabhisheka is being organized to spread the message of peace, fraternity, equality, harmony and mutual trust. At a time when evil forces are trying to destroy peace in the society, a religious festival like this will have a positive impact on the people, he said.

Saint Acharya Tarunasagar along with various saints, reformers and pontiffs will arrive. Acharya Vardhamana Sagara Munimaharaj will also deliver a discourse. The programmes will be inaugurated on Jan 28. A harmony convention will also be held. A felicitation function, discourse and poet’s convention of various scholars of north and south India will be held on Feb 1.

From Jan 29, the Panchakalyana Mahotsav of Bhagavan Parshvanath Thirthankara will be held. The 504 Kalashabhisheka will be held for Bahubali on Feb 1 and 1,008 kalasha Mahamastakabhisheka will be held on Feb 2 and Feb 3. The devotees from Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai and other places will participate in the Kalashabhisheka besides devotees from abroad.

The Mastakabhisheka will be held from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm, while a gallery which can accommodate about 5,000 people will be constructed at Bahubali Betta, he informed.

The seven-day religious programme will be held at Sri Chandranatha Swami Basadi, whereas an exhibition will be held at the ground near SDM Higher Primary School. Various religious programmes will be held at Ratnagiri Betta near Bahubali, he said. Lodging arrangements have been done at Ujire SDM College, School for the devotees coming from distant places, he said.

Cultural fest

Cultural programmes by national-level artists will be held on seven days. Film actress Shobhana, Hemavathi, singer S P Balasubrahmanyam and others will participate. In the exhibition, information related to history, information regarding government department Masthakabhishekas held earlier, information on installation of the monolith, painting exhibition, success stories of Dharmasthala will be provided.

Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhavat has been invited for the programme. Governor, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and various Central and State ministers will participate, he said.

D Surendra Kumar and Prof S Prabhakar were present at the press meet.

Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy will arrive in Dharmasthala on Jan 3 to participate in the distribution of dividend to self-help groups of SKDRDP.

He will participate in the programme to be held at Samyak Jnana Sabha mantap and Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade will preside.

Minister B Nagaraj Shetty and MLA K Prabhakar Bangera will be the chief guest, informed rural development programme executive director L H Manjunath.

Complete road works by Jan 20: DC

Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala is gearing up for the grand event of the decade. Lord Bahubali, installed on Ratnagiri hill, Dharmasthala in 1982, will undergo Mahamastakabhisheka from Jan 28 to Feb 3, 2007. The Attalige, structure to erect platforms is being built to enable the concerned to anoint materials considered auspicious to the head of the 39 feet monolith of Lord Bahubali.

Deputy Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao on 26 Dec 2006 said, the repair works of various roads including Shiradi Ghats should be completed by Jan 20 without fail.

He was speaking at the district-level official’s meeting held prior to the Mahamastakabhisheka celebrations at Dharmasthala on Tuesday. He asked the PWD Department and Zilla Panchayat Engineering Department to repair all roads leading to Dharmasthala.

KSRTC Regional Manager Karumbaiah said, more than 100 special buses from various districts of the State will ply towards Dharmasthala. The MESCOM officials informed that development works to the tune of Rs 1 crore is being undertaken.

Ambulance facilities as well as doctor at a call service will be provided, informed Health Department officials. The Police Department said that security will be enhanced in the region and for this purpose additional Home Guards will be deployed.

At the meeting various department officials including Health, MESCOM, PWD, Taluk Panchayat, Zilla Panchayat, Engineering Department, BSNL, KSRTC, Gram Panchayat and Police participated.

SP B Dayananda, Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, MLA Prabhakar Bangera, ZP President MAmatha D S Gatti, D Harshendra Kumar, D Surendra Kumar, Prof S Prabhakar and B Yashovarma were present.

Request to plan your visit to Dharmasthala

Due to the Public holiday and Christmas holiday to children the Que for darshan was longer on 24th and 25th December at Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy Temple. The same may repeat on 31st and 1st January 2007. Mondays are generally crowded, with Pubilc holiday it increases resulting in long waiting time, pressure for stay, darshan and feeding. Sri D Veerendra Heggade has requested the visitors on behalf of Dharmasthala and all temples of Dakshina Kannada Distrct to plan their visit to avoiding such Public holidays. More convenient and peaceful darshan can be made on any other Normal days.