The 'Sobha Yatra' (procession) marking the culmination of this year's Mangaluru Dasara celebrations began from the Kudroli Gokarnanatheswara temple here Friday evening.

The grand procession, in which thousands of devotees are taking part, began at the temple complex and will conclude at the same venue with the immersion of the idols at the Pushkarini pond in the temple premises early Saturday.

Idols of Navadurga, goddess Sharada Devi and Lord Ganesha are being carried in the procession by the crowd in a festive mood.

The procession began with rituals held at the temple in the presence of veteran Congress leader and organiser of the event B Janardhana Poojary and other office-bearers of the temple.

Over 70 tableaux, music bands, decorative umbrellas and performance of folk artiste groups from across the state are the main attractions of the procession.

The city had been illuminated with colourful lamps for the past nine days as part of the celebrations.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had visited the Kudroli temple on October 14 to formally inaugurate the celebrations.

The duration of the procession through the main streets of the city has been brought down to 12 hours this year instead of 16 hours.

Police have made elaborate security arrangements in the city to check any untoward incident during the procession.

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