With the annual fair of Mahalingeshwara Temple in Puttur planned from Sunday, the Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) has taken up a drive to mount Bhagwa Dhwaja on all autorickshaws owned by Hindus.
The HJV has started distributing Bhagwa Dhwaja to the autorickshaw drivers in Puttur.
HJV Mangaluru divisional general secretary Prakash Kukkehalli told DH, “We have asked the auto drivers to mount Bhagwa Dhwaja during the annual fair. This is not restricted to Puttur alone. Normally, it is a practice among the Hindu devotees to mount a Bhagwa Dhwaj to cars, bikes and autorickshaws whenever there is a temple festival or other religious rituals in villages in Dakshina Kannada. The issue is being highlighted after the row over hijab.”
In fact, non-Hindu traders have already been prevented from carrying out business activities during the temple fair. During the auctioning of the stalls itself, the notice had clearly mentioned that non-Hindu traders will not be allowed to carry out business activities near the temple during the fair.