Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple marks New Year by distributing laddus to devotees

On the occasion of the New Year, the Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple in Vijayanagar distributed laddus to devotees who visited the temple on Thursday.

The temple has been following the tradition of distributing laddu prasada on New Year’s Day for many years. A large number of devotees queued up in the early hours of Thursday to have darshan of the deity. The temple premises were specially decorated to mark the occasion.

Nearly two lakh laddus were prepared. The temple doors were opened to devotees after special pujas were performed to the deity, following which the laddu distribution began. Bhashyam Swami, the founder of the temple, symbolically distributed the prasada to devotees.

This year, the temple prepared 10,000 large laddus weighing 2 kg each and nearly two lakh laddus weighing 150 gm each. The laddus were distributed free of cost. Preparation of the laddus began on December 20, with about 100 individuals involved in the exercise.

The tradition of laddu distribution at the temple began in 1994 on the suggestion of Kannada matinee idol Dr. Rajkumar. What started with the distribution of 1,000 laddus has now grown into a major annual event, with nearly two lakh laddus being distributed every year, reflecting the increasing number of devotees visiting the temple on New Year’s day.

Several temples in the city witnessed rush with people thronging them on the occasion of New Year. People turned out in big numbers to Sri Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hills.