MADIKERI: A rift broke out between devotees belonging to two communities over their choice of clothing while attending a temple festival in Kodagu on Friday evening.
While a few Kodava devotees were heading to the temple to take part in the rituals, they were allegedly stopped by locals belonging to the Gowda community.
A few from temple management also refused entry to the Kodava devotees citing that the latter were disregarding the dress code mentioned in the temple bylaw. The Kodavas were wearing their traditional attire including the Kodava sarees and Kuppiya Chale.
Many devotees from the Kodava community who learnt about the incident rushed to the spot even as the police force hurried to the temple premises to control the situation.
Followingly, entry of all devotees was banned into the temple during late evening hours while the rituals at the temple continued.
Meanwhile, the Kodavas across and outside the district took it to social media to oppose the move by the temple committee.
Community members posted photos wearing the traditional 'kuppiya chale' with the hashtag ‘Nangada Kuppiya Nangada Gutt’ (Our Traditional Wear is Our pride).
The police feared an outbreak at the temple and a total of 80 policemen were deployed at the temple premises to avoid any untoward incident during the temple festival.
The Kodava community has condemned the discrimination. The Kodava Sahitya Academy has urged the temple management to make required changes in the bylaw.
Virajpet MLA AS Ponnanna requested the residents not to get involved in communal fights and urged the temple committee to change the bylaw.
Kodagu SP K Ramajan said that no complaints have been received.
“KSRP force is deployed at the temple premises to curb any untoward incident. However, no complaints have been received yet,” he confirmed.
He explained that the district administration can look into the matter and take necessary steps once an appeal has been made questioning the bylaw of the temple.
“The bylaw has been created recently and it is not an ancestral practice. We have to look into the matter in detail to analyse if the fundamental right is in question. While no appeals have been made, the police force will be deployed for a few days to control the situation,” he explained.
The annual rituals are being held at Sree Maha Mrithyunjaya Temple at Kattemadu in Madikeri taluk. The temple festival continues uninterrupted amidst police security.