Near stampede situation at Hasanamba temple

The doors of the Hasanamba temple was reopened for the year amid elaborate puja rituals, in Hassan, on Thursday.

Despite repeated instructions by the district administration that there will be no darshan of the goddess on the first day, hundreds of devotees had gathered on the premises and were seen forcing their way to gain entry into the temple, as police personnel struggled to control the crowd.

After the rituals, the temple was opened at 12.40 pm, with the sacrificing of the banana plant by family members of Talwars. While a section of the crowd rushed to collect pieces of the plant, which is believed to be auspicious when kept at home, others rushed to have darshan of the deity.

The patience of the crowd ran out as some of the rituals had to be performed in the presence of the higher officials of the district administration. Though the Police department had deployed heavy security on the premises they still had a tough time controlling the crowd. The crowd opposed the officials being let into the temple for darshan. At one point, they even raised slogans against the officials. However, they were allowed entry after 3 pm.

District sessions judge R J Satish Singh, assistant commissioner Sharat, Tahsildar Manjunath, officials of various departments were present.

As per the belief, the lamp that was lit last year was still burning and flowers still afresh. Deputy Commissioner V Anbu Kumar said that he along with other officials had entered the sanctum sanctorum while performing the rituals.

The temple will be open till October 25. More facilities have been made for the benefit of the devotees this year, he said, appealing to the devotees to maintain peace on the premises.