Festival within bounds of Mysore Palace like last year, hints Basavaraj Bommai

Bengaluru: For the second consecutive year, it will be a low-key Dasara where celebrations will be limited to the Mysore Palace premises with a limited number of guests. Public entry will be banned and there will be no celebrations on the streets. 

The Government has already taken a decision in this regard under the threat of COVID third wave and the same will be conveyed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at the high-level meeting to be held tomorrow evening at Vidhana Soudha. 

Mysuru Dasara is a grand 10-day spectacle that culminates on the day of Vijayadashami. Every year, Dasara attracts a huge number of tourists from all over the world to the heritage city. 

Already the Government has prohibited festival gatherings from August to October as per the direction given by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry and Dasara will also be included in the list.  

The administration has prohibited religious, political, educational and entertainment gatherings in these months. State COVID Task Force and scientists from various institutions like the Indian Institute of Science have predicted that the third wave might hit Karnataka in the last week of September or October and as such even they are against mass gatherings that have potential to be super-spreaders. 

Following a warning from the experts to tread a cautious path till October end, the Government has decided to restrict Ganesha Chaturthi to a limited scale. CM Basavaraj Bommai and District Minister S.T. Somashekar have indicated that like last year, the celebrations will be scaled down with no Vijayadashami procession till Bannimantap.