Mangaluru
Even as the annual festival at Bappanadu Sri Durgaparameshwari Temple near Mulki began, members of Hindu organisations have appealed to the temple authorities not to allow non-Hindus to carry out business on the temple premises during the fair.
A large number of devotees throng the temple every year during the festival. The temple is considered a shrine of religious harmony.
The hereditary trustee of the centuries-old temple, NS Manohar Shetty, said that the temple has no role in the shops being set up in Bappanadu during the festival fair.
He told they do not lease the temple’s land to merchants during the festival. Devotees have been complaining that opening stalls on the temple premises causes inconvenience to them. They have also put up a banner informing that the temple committee does not auction its space for stalls during the festival and are not responsible for those who are putting up stalls outside the temple premises and by the side of the roads, he added. The seven-day festival will be held until March 31, he added.
