Dharmasthala Mahamastakabhisheka celebrations start from today

• Feb 16^th anointing of Bahubali statue

Belthangady: With the fourth 10-day Mahamastakabhisheka celebrations beginning from Saturday and the temple town of Dharmasthala bears a festive look. The 39-ft high monolithic statue of Bahubali, a Jain sage, will be performed on Feb 16^th.

Numerous Jain monks have already arrived at the town to witness the once-in-12-years ritual. The ‘padabhisheka’ to the statue is held every year.

The Mahamastakabhisheka ceremonies will be inaugurated by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sturday, however the first anointment will only take place on Fen 16^th. ON this occasion, 1,008 kalashas can be brought by devotees every day. Besides, there are Shraddha Kalasha, Divya Kalasha and Janamangala Kalasha costing Rs 25,000, Rs 5,555, and Rs 1,001 respectively and can be bought from Feb 16-18.

Panchamrutha anointment

The Panchamrutha anointment consisting of milk, turmeric, sandalwood, red sandalwood, saffron and Shantidhaara will take place on Feb 17-18 and can be bought at th price of Rs 1 lakh. Each kind od anointment is limited to only 15 people.

On the last two days a variety of kalashas will be available with fluids including tender coconut, sugarcane extract, flour, flowers and chatus Kkona kalasha which can be bought at a price of Rs 50,000. These kalashas can be bought only on the last two days since the first day’s anointment proceedings will be conducted by the Heggade family.

Laser show

A 15-minute laser show ‘Bahubali Ithihasa’ will be inaugurated by minister for irrigation, Kannada and culture, D K Shivakumar on Saturday. The show is the main attraction and will be staged every day.

Jain monks, Vardhaman Sagarji muni and Pushtadantha Sagarji muni, presently undergoing their chaturmasa rituals at Shravanabelagola shall be presiding the ceremonies from Saturday onwards.

‘Bharatheshwara Digvijaya’

Another attraction of the occasion is a cultural procession depicting ‘Bharatheshwara Digvijaya’ will be taken from the bathing ghat to the main temple dwara on Wednesday. In the procession, people will wear costumes of different areas and some others willl dress up as ‘soldiers’ to depict the grand entry of a ‘Chakravati’ returning back to the capital after conquest. The daily feeding will carry on at the dining halls of Sri Manjunatha Temple during the anointment. In view of the thousands of devotees coming for Mahamastakhabisheka, separate feeding arrangements have been made.