Udupi : The ‘Pura Pravesha’ (entry into town) of Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami of Palimar Mutt would take place here on January 3, 2018. Vidyadheesha Tirtha would be ascending the Paryaya Peetha at the 800-year-old Sri Krishna Mutt on January 18, 2018. It will be his second Paryaya.

It is customary for the Paryaya-designate swami to visit various pilgrim centres across the country and meet his devotees at various places before the Paryaya festival. After the pre-Paryaya tour, when the Paryaya-designate seer enters the city, he is accorded a ceremonial welcome, which is called ‘Pura Pravesha.’

Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Raghavendra Acharya, President of the Paryaya Reception Committee, said the ‘Pura Pravesha’ procession would begin from Jodu Katte at 3.30 p.m. In a break with tradition, the ‘Pura Pravesha’ procession would pass through Kavi Muddanna Road, Kanakadasa Road, and culminate at Car Street. Earlier, the procession used to pass through Kolada Pete and Tenka Pete before culminating at the Car Street. The changed route would be repeated for the Paryaya procession on January 18 also, which would also be a break with tradition.

“This is being done because the Koladapete-Tenkapete Road is narrow and nobody can see the procession and it resulted in rush on the route from Jodu Katte to Mitra Hospital. The Kavi Muddanna Road, which is a four-lane road, would provide ample opportunity for the people to view the processions properly,” Mr. Acharya said.

The main deity of Palimar Mutt, Hanumath Lakshmana Sita with Sri Ramachandra, and the Palimar seer would lead the ‘Pura Pravesha’ procession. The cultural troupes in the procession would be arranged by M. Mohan Alva, educationalist.

After the culmination of the procession at the Car Street, the seer would enter the Palimar Mutt at 6.35 p.m. on January 3. This would be followed by a civic reception for the Palimar seer on the Car Street at 7 p.m. Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Pejawar Mutt, Vishwaprasanna Tirtha, junior seer, D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, Shobha Karandlaje, MP, Meenakshi Bannanje, President of Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) would be the guests at the civic reception, he said.

The Hore Kanike procession, during which devotees donate vegetables and foodgrains to the temple, would be held daily from January 4 to 16. The cultural programmes would be held at Car Street from January 4 to 17, Mr. Acharya said.

The ‘Bhatta Muhurta’, the last of the major preliminaries before the next Paryaya festival, along with the ‘Chappara Muhurta’ would be held here on Thursday.

Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Raghavendra Acharya, president of Paryaya Reception Committee, said that while the ‘Bhatta Muhurta’ would be held at Badagu Maalige, the administrative office and storehouse of the Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple at 8.55 a.m. on Thursday, the ‘Chappara Muhurta,’ would be held near the Gita Mandira here at around 9.30 a.m. on the same day, he said.

M. Laxminarayana Rao, secretary of the Reception Committee, said that before the Rajangana Hall was constructed, ‘chaparas’ used to be put so that devotees could have their meals during the Paryaya. Hence, the ‘chappara muhurta’ was being held. “The practice is still continuing. The area from the Rajangana entrance to Gita Mandira will be covered by tin sheets,” he said.

Normally, the cultural programmes for Paryaya festival culminated on January 19. But this time, it had been extended to January 29 as the Madhwa Navami falls on January 26 and the Vadiraja Jayanti on January 29, Mr. Acharya said.

To a query on whether Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would be invited for the Paryaya festival, Mr. Acharya said that Mr. Madhwaraj was in the Paryaya Reception Committee and he would naturally invite Mr. Siddaramaiah. “We will be happy if Mr. Siddaramaiah participates in the festival,” he said. Sridhar Bhat, Padmanabha Bhat, Ramesh Rao, office-bearers of Paryaya Reception Committee, were present.

Meanwhile, the Palimar Mutt was being given a new coat of paint and minor repairs were being undertaken to give it a fresh look for the Paryaya festival.