Mysuru: A video showing a man removing the cover draped over the statue of Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Swamiji near Gun House Circle went viral on social media yesterday, creating a stir.

The video was shared with captions such as, “Despite being told not to, a man is removing the cover,” giving the impression that the statue was being deliberately uncovered. However, the reality was different.

The statue has been at the centre of a long-running dispute. Members of the erstwhile Mysore Royal Family and the Ursu community had sought the installation of a statue of former MP and late Royal Family scion Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar at the same junction.

The controversy eventually reached the Courts. Pending a resolution, the Supreme Court ordered that the statue of Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Swamiji remain covered and not be unveiled.

Against this backdrop, the viral video led to confusion.

Police from the Krishnaraja (KR) Police Station told Star of Mysore that the cloth covering the statue had been torn and worn out due to exposure to rain, wind and sunlight.

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) had deployed a worker to remove the damaged cover and replace it with a fresh one to maintain the status quo. Authorities said, the MCC worker was wrongly filmed and the video misrepresented online, leading to unnecessary confusion.