B U: Buddha statue forcefully erected in the place reserved for Saraswati

Bengaluru: A fight broke out at Bangalore University's Jnanabharathi campus on Monday as some research scholars, led by Prof Mylarappa, erected a Buddha statue in the place reserved for a Sarawswathi statue.

The Sarawswathi statue next to the Bangalore University’s head office was damaged a few weeks ago. “Some people trying to garland the statue had damaged the hands of the idol. We tried to fix it, but it didn't help. Vice-Chancellor K.R. Venugopal had got a new Saraswathi idol made by putting his own money,” said a BU source.

The idol was supposed to be installed at the same place where the old idol was. A full-fledged granite mantapa was also erected. “All this could have cost more than Rs 3 lakh and the Vice-Chancellor bore the entire cost,” the source said.

On Monday, Mr Venugopal had a meeting at the Vidhana Soudha and the works were going on to install the Saraswathi idol this week. But students led by Prof Mylarappa brought a Buddha statue and installed it forcibly, he said.

Now the matter has reached the police and a complaint was filed at the Jnanabharathi police station, he said.

To discuss the next course of action, a Syndicate meeting was held. But as the matter has reached the police, there has been no consensus yet, he said.