Mangaluru Dasara celebrations from Sep 26, 10 lakh people expected to attend
Mangaluru, Sep 19: The Mangaluru Dasara festival will be celebrated at the Kudroli Gokarnanatha temple from September 26 to October 6, former Union Minister B Janaradhan Poojary, patron of the temple, has said.
This year's celebrations will be unique as the festival could not be held during the previous two years on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, he told reporters here on Sunday.
More than 10 lakh people from various districts of the state are expected to arrive in the city for the celebrations and preparations are on to hold the festival on a grand scale, he said.
Religious rituals will be held every day and food will be served to devotees. It is proposed to hold 'Chandika Yaga' in the glass house for the convenience of devotees, Poojary said.
Poojary said he will personally invite Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to inaugurate the festivities. The timing will be confirmed depending on the availability of the chief minister, he added.
Temple treasurer R Padmaraj said a silver pedestal weighing 12 kg for Goddess Sharada, being made at a cost of Rs 12 lakh, will be offered on September 24. A family of devotees will be offering a silver veena to the temple.
Certain changes have been made in the holding of the Dasara procession as per the convenience of devotees, he said.
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Shivakumar rejects reports linking ministers with gold smuggling case, calls them 'political gossip'
Bengaluru, Mar 10 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivbakumar on Monday rejected reports that claim two ministers have links to the gold smuggling case involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao and termed the reportsa as "political gossips".
He also said that the state government has nothing to do with the case as central agencies are investigating it.
The deputy CM also said, "No minister is involved, we don't know anything. It is all political gossip. Investigating officers will investigate in accordance with the law. We have nothing to do with it," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The central government is investigating, let them do it."
Ranya Rao, 34, was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on March 3 upon her arrival at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport from Dubai, and gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her.
The next day, the DRI said it seized gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore and cash amounting to Rs 2.67 from her residence in Bengaluru.
Ranya is the stepdaughter of K Ramachandra Rao, a DGP-ranked police officer presently serving as Chairman and Managing Director of the Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR in this case.
