GADAG: Miscreants defaced a Shivalinga as well as the Nandi and Honnathemma Devi idols at a temple on the bank of Tungabhadra near Shingatalur village in Mundargi taluk of Gadag district during Saturday night – a day ahead of Shivaratri. The water bowl of the Ramalingeshwara Linga and the face of the Nandi idol were damaged in the attack.
The villagers had painted the temple on Saturday and kept all worship materials ready for Shivaratri rituals. When the priests came to perform worship early morning on Sunday, they saw the Shivalinga and Nandi idol damaged.
The miscreants appeared to have struck in the night, as villagers avoid going near the temple after dusk, fearing attack of wild animals. Local residents said they did not hear any sound from the temple as it was situated far from the village. They have decided to appeal to Gadag deputy commissioner to take action to arrest the culprits and ensure that no such incident repeats.
A villager said, “The miscreants either wanted to disturb communal harmony or they may belong to a gang which was searching for treasure near historical temples after the Lakkundi treasure find. We request the police to conduct a thorough investigation and arrest the wrongdoers as soon as possible.”
Officials from the Mundargi police station visited the temple to collect evidence and have started an investigation.
Court facilitates worship of Shivalinga on dargah land
Kalaburagi: Fourteen Hindu activists performed Abhisheka and Bilwarchane on the Raghava Chaitanya Shivalinga, situated on the premises of Ladle Mashak Dargah on the outskirts of Aland town, between 3pm on Sunday.
The Kalaburagi Bench of the Karnataka High Court had permitted the activists to perform the Puja of the Shivling on the day of Shivaratri (Sunday) after the Ladle Mashak Dargah Committee attempted to prevent devotees from the Hindu community from performing worship on the dargah premises. Around 1,000 police personnel, including police officers, KSRP and DAR, were deployed near the dargah to maintain law and order.