Alert tahsildar averts tragedy

An alert Tahsildar averted a major tragedy during the Biligiriranganatha Brahma Rathotsava, at Yalandur, Chamarajanagar district, on Sunday. The rathotsava, which started at the auspicious time between 10.20 and 10.30 am, completed in just 12 minutes.

Thousands of devotees from across the State had gathered to be a part of the ‘Doddajatre’ at B R Hills.

Hundreds of devotees started to pull the chariot once the deity was placed on it. Tahsildar K Siddu and elected representatives, who noticed that the chariot wheels were in a dilapidated condition, alerted the devotees. It created anxiety among the officials, as the devotees had already started pulling the chariot. As the road was concretised, the chariot moved easily.

The Tahsildar and others acted swiftly and stopped the chariot mid-way. Later, with the help of the police personnel, the chariot was pulled back and brought to its original place, thus averting a major tragedy.