Bangalore, April 16,2013:
The famous Bangalore Karaga is set to be kicked off with a car festival tonight. It is said to be one of the oldest festivals celebrated by the Tigala community.
“This festival is comparable to Mysore’s Dasara celebrations. It is actually called Bangalore Dasara,” said an ardent devotee, Narayana Swamy. He is also the vice-president of Veera Kumarara Sangha and is associated with arrangement of the festivities.
The festival starting on April 16 will go on till April 25. The festivities begin from Dharamaraya Temple Road in city’s K R Market with a small car festival called rathotsava. The official inauguration of the event happens on 17th with flag hoisting as a mark of the beginning of the event. The devotees carry an idol of Goddess Adi Shakti during the procession. It is followed by arathi celebrations, hasi karaga, and pongal seva, on 21st, 22nd and 23th of the month respectively. The main Karaga, a car festival on a larger scale is celebrated on 24th and concluded a day later. All the events are celebrated all through the night.
Bangalore Karaga has a history linking it to the days of Mahabharata, a Hindu mythical story. It is believed that one of central characters of Mahabharata Draupadi took the incarnation of Adi Shakti meaning the source of energy in female form to kill a demon by name Tripurasura. She created a small army called Veerakumara for her aid. The army requested her not to return after the task was completed. Draupadi is said to have promised to return during the first full moon of the first month (chaitra maasa) of the Hindu calendar. Thigalas are believed to be the descendants of the Veerakumaras.
“The karaga festival is something to watch out for. It is full of religious and merry atmosphere with drums, dance and music,” said Rashmi K, who is keen to watch the festivities one of these days.
