BENGALURU: The Bangalore University is in the midst of a statue storm. A simple move to replace an old idol of Saraswati with a new one got complicated when unknown persons moved a statue of Buddha into the place meant for the new Saraswati statue, creating a controversy and necessitating a police guard at the administrative block.
The University Syndicate met late on Monday night and decided to go ahead with installing the new Saraswati statue, while moving the Buddha statue to another place, in the face of opposition by students and faculty.
Vice Chancellor, Venugopal KR on Tuesday said that the new Saraswati statue would be installed ‘as early as possible. “A sub committee has been formed to finalise the new location for the Buddha Statue,” he said. The new idol, purchased by the VC himself at a cost of Rs.2.5 lakh, was meant to replace a worn out version in the block, which had been installed by former Vice Chancellor Narasimaiah in 1973. A pedestal, which cost Rs. 4 lakh, was created for the new idol 20 days ago for the installation function on May 10, sources said.
In the intervening time, a group of teaching and non teaching staff (including a former registrar), along with some students, allegedly placed the Buddha statue on the pedestal and performed some rituals around it, later delivering some speeches.
Venugopal said the whole incident took place in his absence and without his permission.
“A factual report of the incidents was sent to the police commissioner and the Governor, while CCTV footage was submitted to the police and the government,” said Venugopal. After the installation of the Buddha, a faction of faculty members raised opposition to Buddha being replaced by Saraswati, even writing poems on the issue.
Home Minister, M B Patil also objected to the change of idols (from Saraswathi to Buddha), and said that he had sought a report from the DIG in this regard besides making a recommendation to bring back the Saraswathi idol.
Police personnel were stationed at the college after the incident. While the tentative date for the installation of the Saraswati idol was May 10, Venugopal said on Tuesday that it would be done ‘at the earliest’.