Mangaluru: Colours all around as youth enjoy ‘Okuli Habba’

[email protected] (CD Network | Photos by Suresh, Chakravarthi)

February 15, 2016

Mangalore, Feb 15: The Car Street (Ratha Beedi) in Mangaluru turned colorful on Monday as thousands of devotees celebrated the Okuli festival (Holi) in their traditional style as part of the annual Car Festival of Venkataramana Temple.

The Car Festival or ‘Kodial Teru’ came to an end with colorful Okuli celebrations. The event delighted the devotees with high wattage sound systems and tankers splashing chilled water on those dancing in the scorching heat.

Dancing to the tunes of Bollywood songs, people irrespective of their age and gender were seen on the streets hurling coloured powder and water at each other.

The temple and the temple square wore a festive look as devotees thronged in to seek blessings of Venkatramana. People were seen exchanging hugs and sweets to mark the celebration.

The six-day Kodial Theru is the event of the Gawda Saraswat Brahmin community to commemorate the divine union of Venkataramana and goddess Padmavathi.

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the whole tradition is gone for a toss. There are certain restriction/tradition on participation in Okuli. But nobody cares, its become more bolloywood, singing, dancing and merry making.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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