Bengaluru Karaga to continue tradition of visiting dargah

The annual Bengaluru Karaga festival is returning to its full glory after a long break of two years due to the Covid pandemic.

Despite recent calls by right-wing groups demanding to keep the Muslim community away from Hindu festivals, the Bengaluru Karaga procession will continue the traditional visit to the Hazrat Tawakkal Mastan Dargah in Cottonpet, organisers said on Saturday.

The Bengaluru Karaga festival, which will be conducted at the Shri Dharmarayaswamy Temple in Thigalarpet from April 8 to April 18, will be celebrated in full format this year, said the organisers. (HT File Photo)

The annual Bengaluru Karaga festival is returning to its full glory after a long break of two years due to the Covid pandemic. The festival, which will be conducted at the Shri Dharmarayaswamy Temple in Thigalarpet from April 8 to April 18, will be celebrated in full format this year, said the organisers.

During the festival, a man dressed in a sari and carrying an earthen pot and a floral pyramid on his head goes around Bengaluru’s old Pete areas. The procession also involves a visit to a Dargah. According to popular belief, Saint Hazrat Tawakkal Mastan sought the blessings of the Karaga procession over 200 years ago. He was supposedly suffering from some physical ailments and legend has it that the Karaga cured him. Since then, he visited and participated in the festival and asked his followers to keep the tradition alive.

The organisers said that the tradition has been a symbol of religious harmony for several years, and it will continue. “The practice has been followed for years now. Every Muharram, representatives of the dargah visit our temple. Similarly, our procession will visit the dargah. So, we will continue this,” said P R Ramesh, a member of the legislative council and one of the organisers.

Some right-wing groups had raised objections to the Dargah visit in the wake of the ban on Muslim traders from temple festivals in the coastal Karnataka region.

However, MN Anucheth, deputy commissioner of police (central), has warned of action against anyone obstructing the religious practices planned by the organising committee and said that elaborate security measures have been set in place.

“All preparations to ensure safety and manage the crowd have been taken. We will ensure that all the religious practices planned by the organising committee go on smoothly. About 450 police personnel and 38 senior officers, in addition to cops from the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), will be posted on the final day of Karaga to ensure safety. Traffic diversions have also been planned and will be notified soon,” Anucheth said.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has also earmarked ₹50 lakh for the celebrations. ”We have ensured that the surrounding roads are cleaned and repaired. We have also deputed our medical officers to deal with any emergency,” Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said.