Count Begins To Maha Mastakabhisheka At Venoor

Mangalore/Venoor:Jan.27-The Masthakabhisheka will be held from January 28 to February 5. and Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda will inaugurate the ceremony on the first day.
A small town Venoor located amidst the greenery in Belthangady taluk is all set to witness the Masthakabhisheka which is held once in every 12 years. Venoor is located at a distance of 55 km  from Mangalore and is 20 km away from Moodbidri.

Going by the history, Thimmannajila Arasa situated Bahubali statue in Venoor on the banks of Phalguni river in 1604 AD which is 407 years ago. The first Masthakabhisheka was held for this 35 ft tall statue in 1928 followed by the second ceremony in 1956 and the third one in 2000.

If Bahubali statues are located in tall places in Shravanabelagola, Karkala and Dharmasthala, in cotrary, the statue is located in a plain land in Venoor. Manasthambha is located in front of the statue and two stone elephants structures are carved on both the sides of the Bahubali statue. Several Basadis including Adishwara Swami Basadi, Parshwanath Swami Basadi, Shanthishwara Swami Basadi and others are located in the nearby places. 

It is said that the name ‘Venoor’ emerged from the word ‘Enooru’ as the place was beautiful and the people who are wonderstruck at its beauty used to exclaim ‘Enu Ooru’ (What a village!) However, the localites say that the name has come from ‘Elnooru’ as there were 700 houses of Jain Shravaks in the region.

In the backdrop of  Masthakabhisheka, Dharamadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade who is the President of the Welcome Committee has said that  Masthakabhisheka is performed to spread the message of love, sacrifice and world peace. The Working President of the Committee and former Union Minister V Dhananjay Kumar has informed that representatives from all religions will be invited to take part in the ceremony and it will be an all-religion function. 

The preparations have been completed with the guidance of Charukirthi Bhattaraka Swamiji of Moodbidri and Dr Padmaprasad Ajila from Aladangadi palace. The asphaltation of roads connecting Venoor from Naravi, Karkala, Mangalore, Bantwal and Belthangady have been completed. Holidays will be declared to the schools in Venoor surroundings during Masthakabhisheka. Accommodation arrangements for the tourists have been made in Venoor, Dharmasthala, Moodbidri, Belthangady and Karkala. 

A helipad has been built near the Government Pre-university College in Venoor. On the last day of Masthakabhisheka, flowers will be showered on the statue from helicopter. Abhisheka will be made using tender coconut water, milk, sugercane juice, sandalwood paste, Chandana, Ashtagandha and others.