Date:09/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/09/stories/2007060910360300.htm

Karnataka - Bellary

Vannurvali Urs postponed

Staff Correspondent

The three-day urs was to start from Sunday

BELLARY: In an unexpected development, Muslims have voluntarily decided to postpone the Vannurvali Urs at Hampi this year. The three-day urs was scheduled to begin from Sunday. Muslim leaders, including B. Mehaboob and Samiullah, under the banner of the Hospet Taluk Wakf and Minority Development Committee, on Friday met Deputy Commissioner Arvind Srivastav and conveyed the decision taken by them.

In a letter submitted to him, Mr. Srivastav told The Hindu, the community leaders have stated that a decision to postpone the holding of urs was taken keeping in view the plight of the sugarcane growers as they were yet to get sale consideration for the produce they supplied to the sugar factories. Hindu organisations, including the Save Hampi Campaign Committee, the Hindu Jagarana Vedike and the Vishwa Hindu Parishat, had been opposing the urs being held near the dargah, which, according to them, had been constructed on the land belonging to Eeerana Temple. Eeerana Temple, where the locals offer prayers to the deity fixed in a niche of a wall, and the dargah are situated next to each other on the banks of the Tungabhadra behind the Vijaya Vittala Temple Complex.

The organisations had said that Hampi's sanctity was getting spoiled with the cooking and consumption of non-vegetarian food near the temples and at the Purandara Mantap.

This year, the organisations had decided to organise mass puja at the Eeranna Temple for about a week since Thursday. The authorities had clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code till 6 p.m. on Friday besides deploying additional forces to prevent Hindu activists from going near the venue, which led to a heated argument between the activists and authorities. Later, 11 persons were arrested on the charge of defying the ban orders.

According to reports reaching here, police bandobust has been continued and the Hindu organisations did not make any attempt to perform puja today.