Chamarajanagar: Chamarajeshwara temple annual car festival to resume next year

Chamarajanagara: The historical Chamarajeshwara temple is all set to restart its annual car festival by next Ashada month. The festival was stopped since 2017 after a miscreant set Brahmaratha (chariot) on fire.

Though the chariot was partly burnt, the priests and devotees argued that using it for Brahma Rathotsava would be inauspicious. As a result, the annual car festival was suspended.

In 2018, the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore for construction of a new chariot. But it was delayed owing to a technical reason and it started in 2020 in Bengaluru. The wheels of the chariot made in Badami were brought to Chamarajanagara on Tuesday in a lorry.

Speaking to reporters after offering pooja to the wheels, Chamarajanagara legislator Putta Rangashetty said that when devotees decided to build a new chariot, he appealed to Siddaramaiah for funds and got Rs one crore sanctioned for the rath and Rs 20 lakh for construction of a shed to keep the chariot. It was decided to conduct Brahma Rathotsava in 2020 but following Covid lockdown the making of the rath was deferred.

The MLA said the historical Chamarajeshwara temple was renovated at a cost of Rs 2 crore and Samprokshana would be conducted soon for which about Rs 7 lakh would be needed. "If the government does not sanction the amount, funds would be raised through donations from devotees, said the MLA.