Udupi: There are 4 major Dark Moon (Amavasya) days in a year, and Yellamavasya is one of them. On the eve of Christmas, this year on Saturday, Yellamavasya has returned, and a holy dip in Dhanurmasa (Margashirsha – Dec) in sea, is a must for cleansing of Yellamavasya, people flock to the seashore early morning on Dec 25 for off evils.

In Udupi this is done at Malpe and devotees go the Vadabhandeshwara temple and offer obeisance to the presiding deity. They pay tributes to their departed elders with Til (Yellu), guided by priests present at the site.

As large number of people were having dips and moving about, police kept a watch to see that everything went off well.