Chamarajanagar Gowri temple shuts to avoid crowds
MYSURU: The anticipated third wave of the pandemic and the government guidelines have cast a gloom on the Gowri festival. The only Goddess Gowri temple in Kuderu village of Chamarajanagar district will remain shut to avoid assembly of large crowd.
The 107-year-old Swarna Gowri temple, which is open for just 12 days in a year, is the nucleus of celebration during Gowri festival as women from across the state visit to offer bagina and pray to remain ‘Muttaide’, an elderly woman whose husband is alive.
Though it is common that people put up pandal to install Ganesha in other parts of the country, in Kuderu village, the villagers install Gowri and organise special pujas for 12 days that attract devotees from Mysuru and Bengaluru as there is no other Gowri temple in the region. Later, the temple priests immerse the idol in a nearby lake.