Koppal jatra crowd sees sizeable surge

Hubballi: The Gavisiddeshwara Math jatra or Koppal jatra, an annual event in the north Karnataka region that was stalled for two years during the pandemic, witnessed massive crowds.
On the Rathotsav day on January 8, it used to attract 4-5 lakh earlier. Devotees and volunteers feel that this year the crowd could have been much larger, closer to over 8 lakh.
Devotees have offered 300 quintals of ‘madli’, a sweet dish and 6.5 lakh ‘shenga holige’, to the jatra participants.
Jatra is an almost fortnightly event that attracts people irrespective of religion.
Ramanagouda Balanagouda, the in-charge of the Dasoha Samiti, said that it was difficult to give exact figures of visitors and rations spent for mass feeding.
“As the jatra goes on crowd funding, many devotees offer wood, foodgrains, food items like maadli, shenga holige etc. We had prepared 105 quintal rice on the Rathotsav day, it was about 130 quintals of rice on the second day. We received two quintals of ghee on the first day. We are expecting usage of about 1,000 quintal rice till Avaratri Amavasya on January 21. On the second day, we prepared 8 lakh mirchis. Foodgrains or other food items come from villages and towns and directly go to dining halls. We ensure the devotees get good food and water,” he said.
Mahesh Angadi, the secretary of the Durgadevi Mitramandali, Koppal, said that earlier only college students and staff used to serve in the jatra. “Now, employees from different departments, private sector employees join hands on a rotation basis. Abhinava Gavisiddeshwara Mahaswamiji, the current pontiff of the mutt, has extended his services to sectors like environment,” he said.
Vishwanath Ballolli, a member of the Merchants Association of Koppal, said: “This time the crowd was almost 20% more due to a two-year gap.”