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A dense crowd surrounds a flower-decorated palanquin or ratha draped in orange, yellow, pink and white garlands, its silver kalasha-like top visible. Near the front, a bare-chested priest in white dhoti with a rudraksha mala speaks into a microphone. A shaven-headed sannyasi in saffron robes stands at centre, with several other saffron-clad monks and devotees in white shirts and dhotis around him. Women in colourful saris watch from behind a white temple pillar, and a Kannada-language sign hangs above the crowd.