Mysore: Amidst continuous chanting of Vedic hymns, Jnanpith awardees Girish Karnad inaugurated the the Mysore Dasara by offering Puja to the idol of Goddess Chamudeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysore, atop Chamundi Hill, at 8.45 am in the auspicious Tula Lagna.
Interestingly, the Royalty which is associated with the festivities was totally missing.
Earlier, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and Girish Karnad, who arrived at the statue of Mahishasura at 8.30 am, were accorded a poorna kumbha welcome before being taken in a procession to the temple where they offered special pujas to the Goddess.
Speaking after inaugurating the festivities, Karnad, who turned emotional, said that it was an unforgettable moment in his life to be inaugurating the Naada Habba and thanked the State Government for inviting him to inaugurate the festivities.
Recalling his visit to Mysore Dasara in 1956, Karnad said that Dasara festivities were also organized at Dharwad and other places before the Government took over the celebrations at Mysore, which is a great initiative, he expressed.
As a part of celebration Dasara Wrestling was inaugurated by CM Siddaramaih
Taha, A Dutch citizen who has interested and had good knowledge on Wrestling met with an Auto driver who was also Wrestler. Later that Auto driver introduced Dhruva Kumar a leader who had organised Wrestling competition few days ago in Mysore on occasion Siddaramaih birthday.
Taha got more support the auidence and managed to pin down the opponent in less than 2 mins and won the special award from Dhruva Kumar
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, speaking on the occasion, said though he does not offer pujas at home regularly, he visits Chamundeshwari Temple and Male Mahadeshwara Temple and is fortunate to do so.
Ministers V. Sreenivasa Prasad, Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, B. Ramanath Rai, H.S. Mahadevaprasad, Abhay Chandra Jain, MPs R. Dhruvanarayan and Pratap Simha, Mayor N.M. Rajeshwari Somu, Deputy Mayor V. Shailendra, ZP President Dr. B. Pushpa Amarnath, MLAs G.T. Devegowda, Tanveer Sait, M.K. Somashekar, former MLA M. Satyanarayana, State Women’s Commission Chairperson Manjula Manasa, Sports person Arunima Sinha, Regional Commissioner Rashimi V. Mahesh, Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha, city Police Commissioner Dr. M.A. Saleem, SP Abhinav Khare, MUDA Commissioner S. Palaiah, MCC Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath and others were present.
However despite repeated pleas by the District Administration asking people to participate in the inaugural ceremony in large numbers, only journalists, officials, Police personnel and elected representatives were seen at the venue, which otherwise was filled with empty chairs as the Police had banned the entry of citizens to the venue.
Nearly 1,500 Police personnel including RAF, KSRP, CRPF and others were deployed on security duty all around the hill top.
Simultaneous protest of BJP Yuva Morcha
Even as the inaugural ceremony began, a group of about 25 activists of Hindu organisations, led by M.K. Premkumar, shouted slogans against Karnad branding him as an atheist.
BJP Yuva Morcha members staged a protest, against famous Kannada litterateur and playwright, Girish Karnad participating in the inauguration and courted arrest.
It is learnt that around 25 BJP Yuva Morcha members and Hindutva members planned to stage protest against Girish Karnad and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during the dasara inauguration.
The protesters have planned to stage their protests at different locations.
In the beginning they protested near the entrance of the hill but police managed to control the protest and in that incident five members were arrested.
According to sources, they were protesting against Girish Karnad’s atheism and anti Hindutva stance in his literary works and utterances.
Karnad reacts: Reacting to the allegations, Karnad said that Gods never discriminate between theists and atheists and added that whether one is a theist or an atheist is determined by the humanitarian attitude which he/she possesses.
He added that those who were branding him as an atheist should first understand the meaning of a theist.
