Bengaluru's historic Karaga festival to take place on April 12: Report

The annual event, considered one of the city’s most important religious traditions, is held at the historic Sree Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in Thigalarapet.

Bengaluru’s iconic Karaga Shaktiyotsava, a centuries-old festival rooted in the Mahabharata and celebrated with great devotion by the Tigala community, will culminate on April 12 with the grand Karaga procession, The New Indian Express reported.

Bengaluru Karaga to begin on April 12.

The annual event, considered one of the city’s most important religious traditions, is held at the historic Sree Dharmaraya Swamy Temple in Thigalarapet, Old Bengaluru.

According to a report by TNIE, this year’s Karaga will be carried by Jnanendra Vanhikula Gowda, a revered priest who has led the procession 14 times in the past. On the night of April 12, he will once again carry the sacred floral pyramid symbolic of Draupadi, as the procession winds its way through several of Bengaluru’s old pete areas, returning to the temple before dawn.

The festival, which started on April 4, will continue until April 14, with the Karaga procession being the highlight. In the days leading up to the main event, Jnanendra and the Veerakumaras, a traditional group of sword-bearing warriors who guard the Karaga, have been conducting rituals and visiting various localities in the city.

Daily prasada distribution

To accommodate the large number of attendees, the temple has also arranged daily prasada distribution for 2,000 people from April 4 through the end of the festival. Devotees from across the city and beyond are expected to take part in the festivities, which are seen as a symbolic reenactment of Draupadi’s return and the power of feminine strength.

Tight security, traffic arrangements, and crowd management strategies are being put in place for the April 12 procession, which typically draws thousands of spectators and participants into the narrow streets of Old Bengaluru through the night.