Hassan keeps its annual date with local deity

Thousands throng Hassanamba temple which opens for only a few days a year

The doors of the Hassanamba temple here, which traditionally open for about a fortnight every year, were unlocked to enable the public to have a darshan of the deity at 12.30 pm on Thursday.

This year, the temple doors close at 2.30 pm on November 15.

Thousands of devotees of the district and from other districts, braving strong rains, queued up in front of the temple, hours before it reopened, . Rituals had begun at the temple in the wee hours. A descendant of the Talavar family cut the stem of a banana tree when the doors were opened as per tradition.

Labour Minister B N Bachegowda, legislator H S Prakash, deputy commissioner K P Mohan Raj and superintendent of police Amith Singh were among the first to have the darshan of the Goddess, even as the other devotees waited in a long queue.

Many other elected representatives and their friends too had managed to enter the temple grounds. A group of people climbed the rear wall of the temple grounds to get inside.

It is said the oil lamp, which is lit  during the closing of the doors for the year, continues to burn throughout the year until the temple is reopened.  The flowers and ‘naivedya’ offered to Goddess Hassanamba,  do not spoil for the whole year, devotees said.

Poor arrangements

Though the district administration claimed to have made proper arrangements to prevent an inconvenience to the public, the scene was no different from previous years.
Too many restrictions by the police irked the public.

Many policemen too stood in the queue for a darshan. There was a melee by devotees waiting to enter the temple, as soon as the VIPs came out.