Thousands of devotees have thronged the famous Mookambika temple at Kollur in Udupi district to witness the chariot procession and participate in the "Vidyarambha" ceremony in the last two days of the Maha Navaratri festival.
The celebrations started with the "kalasha sthapane" ritual on September 25. Today's rituals began with a "Mahachandika Yaga" in the morning.
Thousands of devotees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry have been camping at the temple since yesterday to participate in the festivities, temple sources said.
A major event of the Vijaya Dashami festival tomorrow is the "Vidyarambha" during which thousands of tiny tots would be initiated into the World of letters at the Saraswati Mandapa inside the temple.
The temple would open at 4.00 am considering the extra rush of parents who want their kids to start their education here, the sources said.
The symbol "Om" is written on the tongue of children during the ceremony with a turmeric twig. The children are then made to write alphabets in rice-grains.
The festival would conclude with a "Vijayotsava" in the evening after the "Utsavamurthy", idol taken out in the morning procession to the "Shukla Tirtha" is brought back to the temple on Vijayadasami day tomorrow. The Goddess would be decorated in a different style on each day of the Maha Navaratri festival.
The Mookambika Temple is believed to have been established by the exponent of Adwaita philosophy Sri Adi Shankaracharya and he is said to have composed the "Saundarya Lahari" at the Saraswati Mandir.
