Mandya: Continuing the tradition of Karnataka Chief Ministers offering ‘bagina’ at dams that reach full capacity, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar — who also holds the Water Resources portfolio — offered ‘bagina’ to the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam this afternoon.
Though priests had fixed 11.30 am as the auspicious time for the ritual, the ceremony was delayed by over two hours. The delay was due to the CM’s chopper landing at Mysore Airport, followed by a road journey aboard an ‘Airavatha Club Class’ bus to the Dam site in Srirangapatna taluk.
This year, the KRS Dam achieved a historic milestone — filling to its full capacity of 124.80 ft in June for the first time in 93 years. This rare occurrence made Siddaramaiah the first Karnataka CM to offer ‘bagina’ at the Dam during the month of June. The ritual began shortly after the CM’s arrival, and the ‘bagina’ was officially offered at 1.36 pm.
A total of 40 pairs of ‘bagina’ were offered. Each was placed on a traditional mora and included a saree, blouse piece, flowers, fruits, bangles, arashina-kumkuma (turmeric-vermilion) and Navadhanya (9 grains). Ritual was led by a team of priests under the guidance of Vedic scholar Dr. Bhanuprakash Sharma.
The CM offered prayers for the well-being of the State and expressed joy that KRS Dam had filled early this year.
The KRS Dam premises was festively decorated, with the Cauvery statue and the Dam walkway adorned with floral displays and a red carpet laid out to welcome dignitaries.
The ceremonial welcome included folk troupes such as Puja Kunita, Dollu Kunita and Nagari, while several women dressed in uniform carried traditional Kalashas. A team of priests led the procession of dignitaries with chants and hymns.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah travelled in an open jeep from the Dam entrance to the ceremonial site. Both CM Siddaramaiah and Dy.CM Shivakumar offered floral tributes to the portraits of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Sir M. Visvesvaraya.
Highlighting the ritual’s spiritual significance, Dr. Bhanuprakash Sharma noted that the Dam’s filling this year coincided with the first Ashada Friday — a sacred period in Hindu tradition that reveres rivers. A team of Kodava women performed the traditional Ummathat folk dance, dressed in their customary attire.
The tradition of offering ‘bagina’ was first initiated by former CM D. Devaraj Urs in 1979. Siddaramaiah had previously performed the ritual in 2013 and 2014.
The Dam failed to reach capacity between 2015 and 2017 due to drought. Although Siddaramaiah returned to power in 2023, the poor monsoon prevented that year’s ‘bagina’ ceremony. However, he performed the ritual in 2024 on July 29.
Over 3,000 people gathered at the Dam to witness the ceremony. Among the dignitaries present were Agriculture and Mandya District Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Mysuru District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, Kodagu District Minister N.S. Boseraju, MLAs Tanveer Sait, Ravi Ganiga, K. Harishgowda, A.R. Krishnamurthy, Dr. Mantar Gowda, Rameshbabu Bandisiddegowda, MLCs Dinesh Gooligowda, Vivekananda, Madhu Madegowda, Mandya Deputy Commissioner Dr. Kumara, Mysuru DC G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, SP Mallikarjuna Baladandi and officials from the Irrigation Department and Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited, among others.
This post was published on June 30, 2025 6:45 pm