Udupi: The temple town of Udupi is decked up for the grand Sri Krishna Janmashtami festivities beginning Sept 14. Car Street, Geetha Mandir, and Rajangana have been illuminated with vibrant decorations. The rituals will commence on Sunday, and the ‘Arghya Pradana’ ritual to be held at 12.11 am (Monday) followed by the much-awaited Vitla Pindi Shri Krishna Leelotsava at 3 pm on Monday. For this celebration, 13 wooden gopuras have been erected at the Ratha Beedi.As part of the celebrations, Paryaya Sri Puthige Mutt will distribute 1.5 lakh chakkulis and 3.5 lakh undes to devotees, with cooks already engaged in preparing the traditional delicacies. Sri Sugunendra Thirtha Swamiji of Paryaya Sri Puthige Mutt said the festival is not just a celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth, but a spiritual experience. “Determination and devotion make life easy. Doing good and connecting with God should be the aim of life,” he said, urging devotees to celebrate the festival meaningfully.Nagaraj Acharya, diwan of Puthige Mutt, said preparations have reached their peak. As part of Mosaru Kudike on Ratha Beedi, two alare teams from Mumbai and Pune will participate, alongside cultural and devotional programmes including the popular Muddu Krishna competition for children. Markets are abuzz with devotees buying flowers, fruits, and decorative items, while Sri Krishna Mutt has been adorned with flowers and lamps.Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said that more than 400 police personnel will be deployed for two days, in addition to the DAR and reserve parties. The deployment will be carried out in line with the crowd-control circular issued by the DG & IGP, with a focus on women’s safety and preventing any untoward incidents. ‘Laddotsava’Meanwhile, the Laddotsava as part of the festive celebration is being held at Geetha Mandir from Sept 11 to 15, featuring 108 varieties of laddus. “Some of the specialties include dry dates laddu, rice flour laddu, wheat khadi laddu, corn poha laddu, almond pista laddu and more,” said Prasanna Acharya, international secretary of Puthige Mutt. This year’s celebrations are also being observed as Mandalotsava, adding to the spiritual fervour in the temple town.
