Bellary, August 22, 2013: Devotees of the Mooga Basaveshwara temple in Kudligi taluk urged authorities concerned, including the temple committee, to restart the car festival.

“For the past six years, the car festival, which falls on the last Monday of the holy month of Shravan, was stopped following a dispute between the people of Siribi and Rampur over the control of temple affairs. As a result, all religious activities, including car festival, have come to a standstill,” Mooganna, a medical practitioner in Kottur and a devotee, told The Hindu.

According to him, his father Moogabasavanna had taken the initiative to give the ancient temple a facelift, by collecting donations from the villages around the temple. “The temple, housing the ‘udbhava linga’, was very small. In 1970, under the leadership of my father, the temple was given a facelift. Everything went smoothly until 2007. Later, a prestige issue between the people of the two villages erupted into a fight between them. Religious activities came to a standstill, hurting the sentiments of the devotees,” he said.

Another devotee, B. Manjunath, said the temple was always busy, especially during the month of Shravan. Even marriages were performed here. Now, however, following the dispute, only pujas are performed. Devotees decided to prevail upon the authorities to revive religious activities from this year itself.

They met Bheema Nayak, MLA, the Kudligi tahsildar, Deputy Superintendent of Police and the elected representatives.

Source: The Hindu, August 22, 2013