Lakhs throng Yallamma Temple

Belagavi: Over 8 lakh devotees thronged the Renuka Yallamma Temple in Savadatti on Friday, the first day of the 15-day fair that starts on Banada Hunnime. A large number of devotees from Maharashtra follow this deity.
The number of devotees nearly doubled this time because the government had not allowed the fair for two years due to Covid-19.
Amid chants of ‘udho udho’, devotees hurled ‘bhandara’ (turmeric powder) on the temple and conducted rituals. The temple administration has installed large display screens for devotees to get a ‘darshan’ of the deity from outside.
The temple administration has arranged for drinking water on the premises. Also arrangements to shower has been made at the Jogulabhavi, a holy well.
Usually a large number of devotees, especially from Dharwad, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Gadag and Koppal, comes to fair on bullock carts. As the animal husbandry department has banned bringing bullocks due to the lumpy skin disease, the majority came in vehicles.
It’s a custom for devotees to come from long distances to prepare ‘kaduba’ (a sweet) while staying in tents near the temple. They eat the same food after offering it to deity. Devotees faced huge traffic jams and the police struggled to clear the roads.