Here, bhajans ring in the new year

If you think it is only with loud music and over-the-top parties that people welcome New Year, you are mistaken.

In Mangalore, many youth communities celebrate the arrival of New Year with poojas, bhajans and prasadam.

Youth groups in places such as Kodical, Attavar and Surathkal hold Satyanarayana pooja, Shani pooja, homas and other religious events, which start at 7pm and go on till midnight. After the clock strikes 12, mahapooja and mahamangalarati are performed and prasadam is distributed. Then people partake in a dinner, the menu comprising only rice, rasam, pickles and payasam.

There is no cake-cutting, drinking or dancing here. Pro-Hindu organisations in the area have been working to popularise ‘desi revelry’ for five years. Jagadish Shenva, state convener of Bajrang Dal, told DNA that there are many RWAs in Mangalore where New Year is welcomed with poojas and satvik food.

Ramesh Kodical a resident of the SC colony in north Mangalore, said their colony has been holding the ‘desi revelry’ for five years. This year, they organised Satyanaryana pooja, in which more than 400 persons took part.