This lensman has covered four Mahamastakabhishekas

MANGALURU: Mahamastakabhisheka to Lord Bahubali at Shravanabelagola, held once every 12 years, is a grand spectacle that draws thousands of people, irrespective of their religious affiliation. While many devotees are happy to see at least one such event, here’s a photographer who has captured it from 1981. This year will be his fourth consecutive coverage of this event.
Yajna Mangaluru, 69, an ace photographer from Mangaluru, has been in this field for over 45 years and has already shot the inaugural event that President Ram Nath Kovind presided over on Wednesday.
He recalls that he first covered the event in 1981, the 1,000 years of consecration of the statue. Coincidently, it was the first Mahamastakabhisheka for Charukeerthi Bhattaraka Swamiji, head of the Shravanabelagola Mutt. Yajna travelled with his friend Shree Padre, an environmentalist, on a scooter from Puttur to Shravanabelagola. He said: “The road from Channarayapatna was narrow. Transport facilities were unlike today and people had to wait a long time for vehicles. There weren’t many lodging facilities. Compared to those days, the town has developed in many ways. In 1993, flowers from various part of the world were brought and showered upon the statue. The transition of the town is quite evident. The scaffolding for anointing the statue has been constructed using German technology this time.”
He added, “The best part of the event is that the whole city is peaceful and visitors are devout.” He has brought out two books with pictures of Shravanabelagola, titled ‘Chikkabetta Darshana’ and ‘Indragiri Darshana’.