BENGALURU: With much fanfare, one of the oldest community festivals of the city, Bengaluru Karaga Shaktyutsava procession, kicked off late night on Saturday. The procession started from Dharmarayaswamy Temple in Tigalarapet.
The festival marks the beginning of the spring season and is celebrated by carrying out a night-long procession in the old areas of the city on a full moon day. The Shaktyotsava is the high point of the 11-day festival that began on March 23.
This year, 30-year-old N Manu of Banaswadi Periyanavaru family made his debut as Karaga bearer. Police security was beefed up in and around procession areas.
The procession, which is also a symbol of communal harmony, made a halt at the 300-year-old Astana e-Hazrath Tawakkal Mastan Shah Saharwardi Dargah to pay obeisance to Tawakkal Mastan. Bengaluru Karaga Shaktyotsava began on March 23 and will end on April 2.