Sharan Setty
Bengaluru : The Congress govt in Karnataka wants to repeat with Dasara what the Left did to Onam in Kerala. The larger danger is clear: the government is once again trying to secularise what is, in essence, a Hindu festival. We have already seen what happened to Onam in Kerala. Stripped of its dharmic roots, it has been rebranded as a “harvest festival” or “cultural celebration,” while its connection to Vamana and Mahabali is pushed aside. The same template is now being tried with Mysuru Dasara. Dasara is not a generic “state festival” in the sense of a cultural carnival. It is a Hindu Dharmic Utsava whose core lies in the worship of Chamundeshwari Devi. Its rituals are decided by the Hindu calendar, its ceremonies are led by the Mysore royal family, and its symbolism goes back centuries to the Vijayanagara Empire. Travellers like Domingo Paes in the 16th century wrote about being overwhelmed by the grandeur of Dasara — the military marches, the religious ceremonies, the unmistakable devotion to the Devi. When the Wadiyars revived it in 1610, they made it their Kuldevi festival, and every ruler since has maintained those rituals. Yes, over time, the government has added cultural programmes, funded artists of all communities, and promoted it as Karnataka’s Naada Habba.
But this cultural layer does not erase its religious soul. To call Dasara “secular” is to distort its identity. If it were secular like, say, Independence Day, it would be celebrated equally in mosques, churches, and temples. But it is not. Its core is Devi worship, without which the festival simply doesn’t exist. This is why the Mysore royal scion Yaduveer Wodeyar stepped in to remind people that Dasara is not merely cultural, but dharmic. He diplomatically said that if Banu Mushtaq expressed her reverence for both Tayi Chamundeshwari and Tayi Bhuvaneshwari, the controversy would settle. That is a reasonable position. The point is simple: Karnataka can celebrate its diversity, invite people of all communities, showcase its literature and arts. But it cannot erase the dharmic essence of a festival like Dasara. Without Chamundeshwari, there is no Mysuru Dasara. (The article is taken from X – @sharansetty2 )
