It was a fair with a difference. The event was not meant to celebrate but to create an awareness about AIDS among masses.
Hundreds of people had gathered at Menasikyatanahalli in T Narasipura taluk to mark the ‘Aidsamma fair’. The goddess, installed in an open place in 1998, was decorated for the fair, which was revived after a gap of two years. As part of the fair, schoolchildren took out a rally raising slogans about AIDS.
In 1998, science teacher H N Girish took the initiative to install a statue after the villagers refused to touch the body of a person, who was infected with HIV. The body was pushed to the graveyard with a bamboo stick. He decided to take measures to create awareness about HIV and AIDS. With the help of schoolchildren, he drew a picture of transsexual on a milestone near ‘Maramma’ temple. Thus, ‘Aids amma’ temple came up in an open space.
