Thousands of devotees witnessed the ‘Theerthodbhava’ at the birthplace of Cauvery at Talacauvery in Kodagu district on Wednesday.
Among those who witnessed the divine occurrence was Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and some of his Cabinet colleagues, who were touring the district.
Cauvery Theerthodbhava took place at the expected time of 6.43 p.m. As the ‘theertha’ (holy water) sprang up from ‘Brahma Kundike’, a small pond, which is reckoned to be the source of Cauvery, devotees, who were waiting for the occasion, rushed towards the pond to see the rising ‘theertha’. Thereafter, the devotees took a holy dip in the main pond in front of ‘Brahma Kundike’ and offered their prayers. They jostled to collect holy water in pots from the ‘kundike’ even as the priests sprinkled ‘theertha’ on them.
Prior to the event, a series of rituals took place at the shrine. Talacauvery and Bhagamandala temples had been decorated with flowers.
The Kodagu district administration had installed LED screens at Talacauvery to enable devotees to witness the event. Barricades had been put to enable crowd management.
KSRTC operated special buses to Talacauvery from Bhagamandala and other towns in Kodagu to ferry a large number devotees, who had come from various parts of the State and neighbouring States as well, as private vehicles had been restricted on the hilltop since afternoon to avoid congestion.
The district administration had put up elaborate arrangements for the rituals and the police had deployed tight security with over 500 personnel looking after bandobust arrangements. CCTV cameras had been installed at the key points as a security measure.
Also, devotees thronged Triveni Sangama at Bhagamandala and many took a dip in the river before proceeding to the hill temple.
