CH NEWS, MANGALURU
Vinayaka Chaturthi, which celebrates the proud cultural and religious splendour of the coast, is being celebrated with great enthusiasm and enthusiasm across the Dakshina Kannada district.
Rather than worshipping Lord Ganesha in homes, it is a unique tradition of the Coast to organize public Sri Ganesh festivals in major centers of the town and worship them together by all communities. On this holy day, the ‘Puddar’ festival of new rice meal, a symbol of the agricultural culture that is the lifeblood of the Coast, was celebrated with devotion in homes and in public Ganesh festival pavilions.
A total of 404 public Ganesh festivals are being held peacefully under the jurisdiction of Dakshina Kannada District Police and Mangalore City Police Commissionerate, and extensive police vigil has been deployed to prevent any untoward incidents.
Under the auspices of the city’s Bunts and the Public Shri Ganeshotsava Committee of the Sri Siddhivinayak Foundation, the 20th Annual Public Shri Ganeshotsava, Tene Festival and the Ashtotta Sahasra Narikela Mahaganayaga were held with great splendor at Omkara Nagar, Bunts Hostel.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner HV Darshan, along with his wife attended the programme, had darshan of Lord Ganesha and participated in the Tene festival celebrations. On this occasion, new paddy ears were distributed to the public as per the traditional custom.
Speaking at the programme, Kodiyalguttu Ajith Kumar Rai Maladi, President of the Bantara Yana Nadavara Matrusangha and Managing Trustee of the Sri Siddhivinayak Pratishthan, said, the undivided Dakshina Kannada district is basically agricultural. Agriculture is our lifeline. We respect the earth more than our mother. Where there is agriculture, there is no famine or alms. It is an age-old tradition for our ancestors to worship the paddy field, bring the new paddy ears brought from the field home, make rangoli, worship them, and then hang them in front of the houses and temples. The sacred ‘Puddar’ of the Tulu people is the dish made using this new rice. This culture applies to all communities without any discrimination in caste or religion.
