Following the cancellation of annual fair of lord Revanasiddeshwara at Baganakatte, a village in Shikaripur taluk, owing to a dispute between two groups over the route of the procession of the chariot, a large number of police personnel have been deployed there to maintain peace and order.
The annual fair was scheduled to be held from March 13 to 15. The idol of lord Revanasiddeshwara was earlier being worshipped at the old temple, located on the Siddeshwara Road in the village. Two years ago, the idol of the deity was shifted to a newly constructed temple near the Government Higher Primary School in the same village.
Last year, the residents of Siddeshwara Road had demanded that the procession of chariot should commence from their locality while the rest of the people in the village had rejected it. A clash had broken between the two groups over the issue.
This year too, differences had erupted between the two groups over the same issue prior to the annual fair. Nitish Patil, Assistant Commissioner of Sagar sub-division, had convened a meeting at Shikaripur on March 10 to settle the dispute amicably. Representatives of both the groups, who had been invited for the meeting, however, failed to come to any conclusion.
Shikaripur tahsildar Thippu Rao and Deputy Superintendent of Police Shruthi visited the village on Thursday night and conducted another round of meeting to resolve the deadlock. The meeting again failed to arrive at a settlement.
As there was a group clash in the village during the annual fair of last year, with the objective of maintaining peace and order, the tahsildar has cancelled this year's annual fair. He has also banned other rituals associated with the annual fair, including the chariot procession, palanquin procession and mass feeding of devotees. As a precautionary measure, more than 50 police personnel have been deployed to the village to maintain peace and order.
The annual car festival had been scheduled to take place from March 13 to 15
Over 50 police personnel have been deployed at the village to maintain peace and amity
