‘Punarvasu Utsav’, the annual event to commemorate 10th century social reformer Sri Ramanujacharya’s arrival in Melkote, was held on a grand note at the temple village Melkote in Pandavapura of Mandya district on Friday.
The traditional belief is that Lord Sri Cheluvanarayana Swamy’s idol was buried under an anthill in Melkote and the social reformer retrieved it in 1017 after arriving from Tamil Nadu.
The rituals started at 5.30 a.m. with the Vangeepuram family (of priests) offering a variety of fruits, dry fruits and flowers to perform the rituals. Later, Sri Ramanujacharya’s idol was taken around the temple in a procession of ‘Pushpa Pallaki’ (palanquin of flowers) and through the main streets of Melkote.
The temple authorities have been organising ‘Punarvasu Utsav’ every year for the past nine centuries, according to sources at the Cheluvanarayana Swamy temple.
Hundreds of devotees from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh witnessed the rituals.
