City celebrates as head of Gokarna Mutt arrives

Mangaluru: The city is all set to play host to the 'Suvarna Chathurmasa' celebrations of the head of the 540-year-old Gokarna Parthagali Jeevotham Mutt, Sri Vidyadhiraj Tirtha Sripad Vader swami from Sunday. Members of the Goud Saraswath Brahmin (GSB) community accorded the seer a rousing welcome when he arrived in the city on Thursday. While the Chathurmas will formally come to a close on September 16, the seer is expected to stay on in the city till the first week of October.
"Of the three mutts of the GSB community, two follow the Vaishnava tradition and Gokarna Mutt is one of them, while Kashi Mutt is the other. Kaivalya Mutt professes the Shiva tradition," said Kumble Narasimha Prabhu, secretary of the local Chathurmasa committee. "Devotees from across the country will arrive in the city for the Chathurmas and many spiritual and religious activities have been lined up in this period," he added.
However, the suvarna chathurmasa committee will also focus on social, cultural, educational, health and environment-related events. The committee is organising Skill India and Startup India camps for students and employees while yoga camps, blood donation drives, home medicine camps and critical illness seminars are also being organised.
In a bid to spread awareness on the environment, the committee has also planned a Swachh Bharat campaign on Sunday, in association with the Sri Ramakrishna Mutt. The committee is also donating 25 ready-to-use toilets, costing Rs 3.5 lakh, to be used at select government schools and public places.
"While the locations for the toilets to be used at public spaces will be decided in consultation with the Mangaluru City Corporation, those for government schools will be decided after talks with the department of public instruction," Prabhu said.
August 15 will see achievers from the GSB/ SB community being feted. The Abhivandana Diwas GSB/ SB Ratna Award will be conferred on union railway minister Suresh Prabhu, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, BRICS Bank chairman KV KaMutt, Century Group chairman P Dayanand Pai. Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala's dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade has been chosen for the Samaj Maharatna Award while minister of state for Ayush Sripad Naik will be felicitated with the Samaj Ratna Award.