Udupi : The Maha Navaratri festival will be celebrated at the famous Sri Mookambika Temple, established by the exponent of Advaita philosophy, Sri Adi Sankaracharya, 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. The “Kalasha Sthapane” ritual will be held at 7 a.m. on Thursday. The “Chandika Yaga” would be performed on the “Mahanavami” festival at 11.30 a.m. on September 29, while the “Rathotsava” will be held at 8.45 p.m. the same evening.

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” (idol taken out during procession) 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.

H. Krishnamurthy, Assistant Executive Officer of the temple, told The Hindu that an information centre would be set up at the entrance of the temple to guide the devotees. An emergency health centre will function at the Jagadambika Administrative Block. Vehicle parking facility was available at the High School Grounds and either sides of the bus stand.

Breakfast will be provided to devotees from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. till September 30, while meals would be provided during noon and night till November 5. Cultural programmes would be held daily from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Swarnamukhi Mantapa near the temple.

“We are expecting 15,000 to 20,000 devotees on September 29 and 30. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) would run special buses from Byndoor and Kundapur on both the days,” he said.