DHARMASTHALA: Curtains came down on the three-day anointment rituals of the 39-foot-tall monolith of Lord Bahubali on Ratnagiri in the Dakshina Kannada district on Monday with a prayer that benefits of the rituals reach the martyrs of February 14 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir.The use of saffron brought from Jammu and Kashmir on the opening day of the rituals on Saturday too had sent out a symbolic message that Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala was with the martyrs and the Lord wished peace for all.The family of D Veerendra Heggade , dharmadhikari of the Kshetra, took the lead in kick-starting final day proceedings with 1008 pots (kalash) of purified water brought to Ratnagiri from Sri Chandranath Swami Basadi in a grand agrodhaka procession. Srinivas Shetty and family from Belthangady were given the honours with the sugarcane (Ikshurasa) Abhisheka, while Sunanda Devi Indra from Venoor kick-started the milk (ksheera) abhisheka.If Dharanendra Kalkodu from Kalasa performed the ‘kalkachoorna abhisheka’, it was the turn of Shreshta Jain and M S Mruthyunjaya from Bengaluru to lead the ‘kashayabhisheka’ and ‘kesari abhisheka’. Rohini Aadiraj from Moodbidri performed kashayabhisheka and quartet of Rathnakar Jain from Mangaluru, Manmatha Kumar from Nellikaru, Sohanlal Jain from Bengaluru and Pankaj Jain from Hubballi performed the ‘chatushkona’ abhisheka.Shashikiran Jain from Belthangady led the devotees in performing ‘Srigandhabhisheka’, Saroj Gunapal Jain from Moodbidri followed suit with ‘chandanabhisheka’. Pushpadanta Sagar Muni maharaj in his benedictions on this occasion said the darshan and worship of Lord Bahubali will help cleanse devotees of their ‘papa’ (sin) and there is a circulation of ‘punya’ within, besides propagation of principles of non-violence, sacrifice and control.Sri Lalithakeerthi Bhattaraka Swamiji of Karkala, Sri Charukeerthi Bhattaraka Swamiji of Moodbidri, Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja and president of DK unit of Kannada Sahitya Parishat Pradeep Kumar Kalkura were among the prominent religious leaders, citizens who witnessed the days’ proceedings. The organisers distributed free handheld fans made from areca nut sheaths to help the devotees beat the pre-summer heat.Dakshina Kannada Milk Producers Cooperative Union Ltd provided 5,000 litres of buttermilk to help devotees quench their thirst. Kuber Chougule from Kolhapur and Jayashree from Horanadu regaled their audience with their mellifluous rendition of Jain bhajans as the devotees awaited their turn to perform the anointment. Festivities ended with dwajarohana, kumkumotsava, kankana visarjane and thorana visarjane rituals held in the evening.After the end of three-day rituals on Monday, mahamastakabhisheka will continue on specified dates, according to the organisers. Accordingly, Karnataka Jain Charitable Trust will perform the anointment rituals on February 19. Kankagiri Jain Math will follow suit on March 8, Arhanthagiri Jain Math on March 10, Bengaluru Jain Mahila Okkoota on March 16 and Moodbidri Jain Samaj on March 17 and all arrangements are in place for the same.

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