It will be a unique treat for devotees who arrive here to participate in the Gavi Siddeshwara math’s jatra in Karnataka for three days from Wednesday.

No one will go hungry with anna dasoha (mass feast) being planned for the devotees which will continue for nearly a month.

The mass feast is organised every year during Gavi math jatra besides the daily anna dasoha for devotees who visit the math. People from across the district, donate kadak roti, prepared with jowar flour for the purpose.

Rotis are dried so that they can be stored for a month without getting spoilt. They are shifted to the math just 4-5 days before the jatra.

The rotis are collected from houses in most villages by the elders who carry them to the math in bullock carts or autorickshaws. Over 12 lakh rotis have been stored in rooms belonging to the math to feed the devotees arriving for the jatra mahotsav.

More rotis are expected with people expected to continue the supply as long as the jathre lasts. This apart, the devotees have also donated thousands of quintals of rice, 5,000 litres of milk, ghee, vegetables and 200 quintals of madali or maldi, prepared by mixing jaggery, wheat flour and dried coconut.

Abhinava Gavisiddeshwara Swamiji, the pontiff of Gavi math told Deccan Chronicle that five years ago, about 80 quintals of rice was left unused in the godown.

“Hence, we decided to use it for dasoha. However, some devotees opposed the move asking what we would do the next year. Undeterred by this, we began the mass feast during the jatra mahotsav. Since then, the feast has been continuing uninterrupted with the blessings of the late pontiff of the math,” the seer added.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Bengaluru / DC, Koppal / January 11th, 2012