‘No need for saree donation, Govt. can afford a saree for Goddess Chamundeshwari’

Mysuru:  From this year, the State Government will not accept donation of saree to drape the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari before being placed inside the Golden Howdah and carried on a procession.

An announcement in this regard was made by District Minister V. Somanna here this morning. Speaking to media persons after releasing the Dasara Kavigoshti (Poets’ Meet) poster at MUDA auditorium, he said that this was done on the advice of senior leaders such as former MLC D. Madegowda, who along with others informed him that donating the saree which would be draped around the Goddess had created a kind of one-upmanship among politicians who wanted to donate and gain publicity. 

He said there were lobbies during Dasara to put pressure on the District Administration on behalf of their respective leaders to accept their donation of a saree to be draped on Goddess Chamundeshwari. This would create unnecessary confusion and politics in an already high-voltage event.

Somanna further added, “There is no need for us to accept a saree as donation. The Government, which has been organising a grand Dasara, is perfectly capable of affording a saree worthy of Goddess Chamundeshwari.”

With this decision, the State Government has in a way put an end to saree politics for now, unless it is revived next year.