Once a year, gods and goddesses from all around Ulsoor come visiting the historic Someshwara temple located in the heart of this old neighbourhood of Bangalore. They come in style too, in palanquins decorated with the most colourful and fragrant of flowers.
Little wonder, considering the event is no less than the wedding of gods Someshwara and Kamakshi.
The car festival of Someshwara temple is undoubtedly the biggest annual event in Ulsoor. The special floral decorations of the palanquins — the one of bride Kamakshi being the grandest — have earned the event the name ‘Poo Pallakki'.
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The festivities start on a Saturday evening and reach a crescendo by around 2 a.m., with the decorated palanquins being taken around the area in a grand procession. There is plenty of dancing and revelry in Jogupalya, where the main event takes place.
Very popular
Though old-timers feel that work on Namma Metro, road widening and other activities have taken a sheen off the festivities, it remains a popular event to this day.
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“Over the years, the number of palanquins has reduced, may be from 100 to 120 at one time to about 70 now. But the number of people who come to watch has not,” says K. Vishwanathan, who has lived in Ulsoor for 10 years.
He says residents of the area invite friends and relatives from neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh also. “There is a general festive mood. There are rows and rows of stalls and there are play options for children,” adds Mr. Vishwanathan.
S. Gunashekhar, one of the members involved in organising the event, says Poo Pallakki this year falls on April 30, and about 80 temples in and around Ulsoor have already promised to bring pallakkis. “Besides paid workers, more than a 100 volunteers work day and night to make the event a grand success,” says Mr. Gunashekhar, whose family has lived in the area for generations. The money spent on buying flowers alone runs to about Rs. 2 lakh, he adds.
Interestingly, changing lifestyles of people have altered the complexion of the festival slightly, says Mr. Gunashekhar. “Earlier, each house had a jagali. This meant that anyone who came from a far could spend the night in the front yard of a stranger's house. But these days the architecture of the houses has changed, making it impossible for people to simply land up if they don't have a place to stay,” he says. “But the faith of the people has not changed.”
Poo Pallakki may not figure in the calendar of events of the new Bangalore of the nouveau riche, defined by big malls and bigger infrastructure projects. However, clearly, there are pockets of Bangalore where ideas of leisure, culture and enjoyment remain a world apart.