A water tangle with a different angle in Madikeri

This was a water tangle of a different kind, without  sparring over the sharing of the precious resource.

A Bengaluru-based organisation had organised the ‘parjanya varuna yaga’ to propitiate the rain God in what has been one of the highest rain-deficient years in recent times. But the claimed purpose did not go down well with a few local organisations. It was not the usual rationalist vs believer tug-of-war that was at the centre of the controversy, though.

The local organisations opposed the yaga, organised at the Bhagandeshwara temple in Bhagamandala, on the grounds that coffee and pepper crops could be harmed by the fruit rot disease if the efforts of the priests bear fruit and there are indeed ‘untimely’ showers. They say that the yaga was organised without taking permission from the local authorities.

A total of 16 priests have come down from Maharashtra for the ritual that began on September 11 and organised by Chandrashekar Raju of the Prakrithi Foundation of Bengaluru by spending Rs 6 lakh.

On Wednesday, the activists argued with the priests and demanded that the ritual be stalled. They said that the chemicals used for the yaga had turned the water of River Cauvery red and that the ritual was being undertaken in an unscientific manner. Finally, the rituals were stalled at noon.

Chief priest Chaitanya Narayana Kali said, “it was not a religious ritual, but a scientific yaga. With the pouring of pure ghee, jackfruit and pieces of wood from the banyan tree into the fire, zinc oxide and manganese oxide are released into the atmosphere. This helps in the formation of clouds.”

“We want rain in and around Talacauvery for the welfare of the society,” said Chaitanya. “The yaga was scheduled to be completed on Thursday,” he added. There were, however, a few supporters for the efforts of the priests too.

“Kodagu has seen a change in weather in the last two days (meaning rains), which is the result of the yaga,” said Bhagamandala residents Somshekar Nayak and Geetha Bai.