MANDYA: It was 84 years ago that Shivapura, a small village near Maddur in Mandya district, became the talking point of the country’s nationalist movement, as it started a peaceful agitation to attain the goal of self-governance and hoisted the flag, defying arrests.
The flag was flown on April 9, 1938, and immediately after, the freedom fighters were arrested by the Mysore police as flag-hoisting was banned by the British. Soon, a team of Congressmen met and chalked out various programmes to protest. The agitation was joined by farmers and villagers from different parts of the region, turning it into a larger movement.
Though the majority of those who took part in the agitation are no more, senior citizens, who were told about the Shivapura Satyagraha, said the contributions of Thirumale Gowda were immense as he gave away his nine acres of land to hoist the flag. He also allowed the activists to use his house as the office and freed up his bungalow to accommodate a large number of women and children who had come from different parts of the state. Over 10,000 people took part in the flag-hoisting ceremony, shouting the slogan, Ene barali oggattirali (Come what may, let us be united), which became popular.
Veeranna, a resident of Maddur, said it was the Congress convention that inspired many to hold a meeting in the region. Several places, including Srirangapatna and Badnavalu near Nanjangud, were considered, but finally, the organisers settled on Shivapura because of the enthusiastic support extended by people like Thirumale Gowda and Veeranna Gowda.
An arecanut tree stump, which was 60 ft tall, was chosen as the flagpole and it was chopped and transported on a bullock cart to the venue. Though the initial plan was to hoist the flag for three days, a large number of policemen who had gathered at the spot did not allow it and detained most of the freedom fighters.
Women and children took turns to sit around the flag to prevent the police from bringing it down. To commemorate the historic event, the Shivapura Soudha, which is next to the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway, was inaugurated in 1979.