Dasara 2022: Gala festivities come to an end in Karnataka on Vijayadashami

Celebrations culminated around Karnataka on Vijayadashami, the final day of Navratri, with the iconic 'jamboo savari' procession in Mysuru, the ‘Shobhayatra’ of Goddess Sharada atthe Acharya Mutt of Sri Venkataramana Temple in Mangaluru and palanquin processions in Bengaluru.

Karnataka was decked up on the occasion of Vijayadashami, the final day of the Navaratri festival. Here are a few points on the festivities as observed in Bengaluru, Mysuru - where Dasara is a royal affair - and the coastal city of Mangaluru.

Festivities around Karnataka on Vijayadashami, the final day of the Navratri festival.(SUHAS_DORE-Twitter)

Mysuru Dasara 2022

Mysuru, which is covered in lights throughout all the nine days of Navratri, will see bring an end to this year's festivities on Wednesday. The celebrations will culminate with the much-looked-forward to jamboo savari procession with elephants on the day of Vijayadashami.

The city has celebrated Dasara with great pomp for over 400 years keeping in mind the history of Goddess Chamundeshwari. According to Hindu beliefs, Goddess Chamundeshwari slayed a demon Mahishasura, which gave Mysuru its present name. Hence, Dasara is the most important festival of the city and is even called the ‘naada habba’ in Karnataka, meaning the festival of the state.

With a large of revellers set to leave the town after Vijayadashami, the South Western Railway (SWR) has decided to run a special ‘festive express’ train from Mysuru to Hubbali on Wednesday night.

READ | 'Festive Express' special train to run from Mysuru to Hubbali on Dasara

Besides the lights, processions, and dance and musical performances organised near the city's palace, Mysuru residents celebrated the festival grandly at home.

Among the hundreds of posts being shared on social media on the festivities, a local posted a video of a collection of Dasara dolls belonging to a family member.

“Namma Mysuru Dasara 2022 Dasara bombe collection by my aunt Parvati from #Tumkuru. #Dasara #MysuruDasara2022 #MysuruDasara #Mysuru #Navratri #Navaratri2022 #navarathri #Navarathiri #Navaratri_2022 #karnataka #Bengaluru,” tweeted the user, Trishan Gangaraju.

Bengaluru Dasara 2022

Bengaluru's celebration of Vijayadashami consisted of at least 113 palanquin processions in RT Nagar, JC Nagar, Hebbal and DJ Halli. Several public places and exhibitions displayed the Navratri dolls across the city.

Ayesha Tabassum, a Twitter user, posted a video from celebrations at the Bengaluru airport. “The amazing song, Thayi Nityotsava, that captures the essence of Karnataka, being performed at @BLRAirport's Dasara celebrations #BLRAirport #Bengaluru #Dasara,” she wrote.

Netizens were earlier caught up in an online debate about the impromptu Garba performances organised at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport to mark Navaratri. The spontaneous dance by staff and passengers was criticised by some, who demanded celebrations in Karnataka style and said Garba has its origin in the north.

READ | 'Portray Dasara celebrations of Karnataka': netizens on Garbha at Bengaluru airport

Bengalis residing in the Karnataka capital also celebrated their own way with multiple Durga puja pandals being set up across the tech city. “The Durga Puja being celebrated with much pomp and gusto in Bengaluru. Yet, the duration of this festival always feels short with so many pandals not being visited,” a netizen, Adithi Rao, posted.

Mangaluru Dasara 2022

Dakshina Kannada's Mangaluru observes the grand Dasara Mahotsava at the Kudroli Gokarnanatha temple every year, with the installation of goddesses Navadurga and Sharada.

This year marked the centenary Navratri celebrations in Mangaluru where goddess Sharada is worshipped, which has brought sponsorships for a saree worth ₹8 lakh, a gold veena, a gold peacock, a silver pedestal and a silver prabhavali for the goddess.

READ | Mangaluru: Goddess Sharada gets saree worth ₹8 lakh with gold zari

Celebrations were also organised at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) for two days, which got off to a vibrant start on Monday, with bhajans, dandiya dance, Yakshagana and the iconic folk dance ‘pili vesha’ (tiger dance), news agency PTI reported. The airport authorities also organised ‘pili nalike,’ Bharatanatyam, semi-classical and filmy dance on Ayudha pooja day on Tuesday.