6-day Sri Mailaralingeshwar annual festival in Yadgir district to begin on Jan 12

The Yadgir district administration is all set for the six-day annual fair of Sri Mailaralingeshwar temple in Mailapur village in Yadgir taluk.

The annual fair will begin on January 12. On January 14, the god Mailaralingeshwar idol will be taken in a palanquin for a holy dip in the lake that is located near the temple.

The Revenue Department has taken action to clean the temple premises, and also put a fresh coat of paint.

As per the age-old tradition, on January 14, priests of the temple will break the chain tied to a pole opposite the temple while devotees pour yellow colour powder (bhandar) shouting ‘Elu Koti Elu Kotige’

The district administration issued an order prohibiting devotees from hurling live goat and sheep on the moving palanquin. Earlier, devotees would hurl live goats and sheep believing that they were paying one animal back to God with a prayer to save the rest.

Deputy Commissioner Harshal Bhoyar, who is also the district magistrate, held an official meeting recently and gave directions to organise the annual fair peacefully and ensure that all basic facilities, including drinking water and makeshift toilets, are put in place for devotees.

Lakhs of devotees from across Karnataka, as well as from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra, visitr the temple to seek the blessings of Mailaralingeshwar.

The Animal Husbandry Department will set up checkposts at the beginning of the road from where devotees arrive at the temple to collect sheep and goats that they would carry to offer to the god. Later, the animals would be auctioned.

The Home Department has taken measures to ensure the safety of devotees.

“Adequate police personnel, including inspectors, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables (both men and women), and also home guards, will be deployed,” Pruthvik Shankar, Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu. He added that more than 25 CCTV cameras are being installed to prevent any untoward incident.

Mr. Shankar said that police personnel from neighbouring Narayanapet (in Telangana), and the Kalaburagi and Raichur districts (in Karnataka) will be patrolling the site in plainclothes to prevent any crime, especially by habitual offenders.

“The Kalyan Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) will be operating buses from Yadgir, Shahapur, Shorapur, Wadi, Hunsagi, Talikote, Hubballi, Gadag, and other key places, to enable devotees to come to Mailapur,” said G.B. Manjunath, Divisional Controller of KKRTC in Yadgir.

Buses of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be operating services from Narayanapet, Maktal, Mahaboobnagar and Kodangal and other parts of their respective States.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Ramesh Kolar, who is the nodal officer appointed exclusively for the fair, told The Hindu that makeshift toilets for ladies, washing rooms, and drinking water facilities will be put in place. The Health Department, Fire and Emergency service personnel, and expert swimmers will be posted at the site to attend to any emergency.

He appealed to people not to drink water from the lake, and that separate drinking water facility has been put in place.