Public outrage: movie shooting halted at Belur temple

 The Archaeological Survey of India on Friday cancelled the permission granted for shooting of Telugu movie ‘Duvvada Jagannadham,’ on the precincts of the historic Chennakeshava Temple in Belur following public outrage.

Commotion prevailed for a while in the temple after a group of local people objected to the shooting.  They flayed the authorities for granting permission to erect sets on the temple premises, causing inconvenience to the visitors.

Shooting for the film began on Thursday but priests and local people took offence to the film crew using the backdrop of Lord Shiva at the popular Vaishnava pilgrim centre. The film crew later cleared the set to facilitate visitors.

On Friday, the temple executive officer wrote to the Endowment department seeking directions to the crew for removing clear Lord Shiva’s idol. Accordingly, shooting was allowed after the idol was removed. Movie director Harish Shankar apologised for causing inconvenience to the visitors.