The Mangaluru Dasara came to end with the idols to Goddesses Sharada, Navadurga and others being carried in grand procession, accompanied by various cultural troupes, across the city on Friday evening continuing till the wee hours of Saturday.
In the background of percussion instruments playing the melodious tune of a popular devotional song, 'Entha andha entha chanda Sharadamma’, a smiling idol of Goddess Sharada, which was inside the Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatha Temple in Kudroli, was carried gently by devotees and volunteers to the tableau parked outside the temple.
At 6.30 pm, the Dasara procession with Goddess Sharada idol was flagged off from the temple.
Earlier, prior to the start of the procession, special prayers were offered to the idol by temple’s chief priest Lakshman Shanti. The woman priest Indira Shanti also got an opportunity to perform `Aarti’ to the idol.
Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary felicitated a dozen personalities including Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Mayor K Bhaskar and former MLA J R Lobo.
Later, he said the Mangaluru Dasara should bless everyone. Treasurer Padmaraj R was also present. The procession with as many as 75 tableauxes carrying the idols of ‘Ganesha’, ‘Adishakthi’, nine Goddesses ‘Navadurga’ and Sharada, proceeded via Lalbagh, PVS junction, Hampankatta, GHS Road, New Chitra to end at the temple in wee hours of Saturday.
Tiger dancers, drummers and folk artists from across the state took part in the procession. The idols were later immersed at the temple’s pond in wee hours on Saturday.
The rathotsava of Shree Mangaladevi also ended on Friday.