The annual car fair of the Sri Jade Shankarlinga temple was disrupted as the decorated Rath caught fire during the procession in Shivapet village near Ramdurg in Belagavi district on December 28.
The Rath decorated with paper and cloth caught fire after some persons threw lighted crackers in the air in the evening. No one was hurt, police said.
Devotees sitting beside the deity in the Rath tried to douse the fire with towels and leaves. But it did not subside. When the fire began engulfing the wooden frame of the Rath, the villagers threw buckets of water on it and succeeded in controlling the fire.
A fire tender was rushed to the village later.
