A Row Over Installation Of Statue In Mysuru City

Bengaluru: A row has erupted over installation of a statue of late seer of Suttur Mutt Shivarathri Rajendra Swami at Gun House Circle in Mysuru City on Friday night by seer followers and of all of a sudden, installation of a life size statue of late seer has drawn flak from a member of erstwhile Mysore royal family Pramoda Devi Wadiyar. Pramoda Devi Wadiyar is for installation of a statue of her late husband Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar.

On Friday night, some followers of late seer used a crane to install a statue of late seer of Suttur Mutt Shivaratri Rajendra Swami at Gun House Circle leading to protest from the members of Ursu Mandli who demanded the removal of the statue.

A member of the Ursu community present at the statue spot told Deccan Chronicle on Saturday that “It happened all of a sudden and by the time we reached the spot to express our opposition, the installation of a statue was done.” Adding, he said, “We were outnumbered by the followers of the late seer at Gun House Circle.”

The installation of a statue at Gun House Circle goes back to 2017 when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah laid foundation for the statue of late seer of Suttur Mutt Shivaratri Rajendra Swami and the move to install a stature of late seer was opposed by members of Ursu Mandali who demanded a statue of late erstwhile member of Mysore royal family Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar.

The matter of statue installation reached the High Court, Karnataka. A committee was constituted to look into the matter of statue installation and it is said that the District Committee reportedly is in favour of installation of a statue of late seer of Suttur Mutt Shivaratri Rajendra Swami.

Since, the District-committee is said to be in favour of late seer of Suttur Mutt Shivaratri Rajendra Swami statue installation, followers of late of late seer of Suttur Mutt Shivaratri Rajendra Swami took a step ahead and installed it at the Gun House Circle.

Over the statue installation, a member of erstwhile Mysore royal family Pramoda Devi Wadiyar expressed her displeasure over the statue installation at Gun House Circle.

A member of the Usru Mandali alleged that the District committee to look into the statue installation has taken a “unilateral’ decision and the members of the Ursu Mandali have been kept in the dark over statue installation. He alleged that “installation of a statue was pre-planned” and "Installation of a statue has hurt the sentiments of the community."

The members of Ursu Mandali are garnering support of various associations to stage a protest against the statue installation and that a protest would be staged on Wednesday while members of the Ursu Mandali would be knocking at the doors of the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, policemen have been deployed at the spot and the statue has been barricaded.