Pomp and gaiety marked the 523rd birth anniversary celebrations of saint poet Kanakadasa, organised by the district administration at Kalamandir here on Wednesday.
The celebration began on a colourful note with procession of the idol of Kanakadasa from the north gate of Mysore Palace arriving at Kalamandir, amid fanfare of folk music and dance. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah flagged off the procession in the presence of Kanaka Guru Peetha seer Shivanandapuri, Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta, former MLA M K Somashekar and others.
School children also joined a different folk troupes like Dollu Kunitha, Pooja Kunitha, Garudiga Kunitha and Kolata. A group of artistes portrayed Kanakadasa and his love for Lord Krishna.
Bury differences
At Kalamandir, Murugharajendra Sharanaru of Murugha mutt called upon the society to bury the caste and community differences while celebrating birth anniversaries of great people like saint Kanakadasa, Basavanna, Buddha or Dr B R Ambedkar. These personalities should not be restricted to any particular caste or community. The Murugha mutt showed the way by holding Kanaka Jayanthi and Ambedkar jayanthi celebrations on the mutt ‘s premises last year.
“It is unfortunate that personalities like Kanakadasa, Basavanna and Ambedkar are restricted to their community. People from other communities take little interest in attending such programmes, he said.
These celebrations should bond people of all castes, communities and faith together for observing these birth anniversaries. “The society has to understand the linkages between Basavanna and Kanakadasa. They lived above the castes and communities and preached secular principles.
The casteist feelings deep rooted in the society should be eradicated, and people should respect each other irrespective of each other’s castes,” the seer remarked.
Praises Siddu
Murugharajendra Sharanaru heaped praises on Opposition leader Siddaramaiah saying the Congress leader has never identified himself with any caste or community. He floated AHINDA which was a non-political forum and recalled attending Ahinda conventions held across the State. He regretted that many seers who were to attend the Ahinda meets accepted favours from political parties and abstained from attending the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, scholar T N Nagarathna spoke about the life and works of Kanakadasa. The saint stood above caste and religious inclinations, she stated.
Shivanandapuri Swamiji of Kanakaguru peetha, Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta, Additional Deputy Commissioner Betsurmath, MLC Thontadarya, MLAs Satyanarayana, Tanveer Sait, former MLA Somashekar, ZP CEO Sathyavathy, Chairman of Zoo Authority of Karnataka Nanjundaswamy and others were present.