Udupi: The Maha Navaratri festival will be celebrated at the famous Sri Mookambika Temple at Kollur in Udupi district from September 21 to 30. Devotees from the State, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh are expected to participate in the festival.
An attraction of the Vijayadasami festival on September 30 is the Vidyarambha ceremony, which will begin at the Saraswati Mandira in the temple from 4 a.m. During the Vidyarambha ceremony, the symbol Om is written on the tongue of children, aged between two and three, with a turmeric twig. The children then write alphabets on rice grains. About 2,500 children are expected to participate in the Vidyarambha ceremony this time.
The Vijayotsava would be held at 5.30 p.m. on the same evening. During the Vijayotasva, utsavamurthy of Goddess Mookambika will be carried to the Shukla Tirtha, a kilometre from Kollur, and brought back. The goddess will be decorated in different styles on each day of the Navaratri.
