Low-key Kadalekayi Parishe begins

The two-day Kadalekayi Parishe began on Monday, albeit without the customary groundnut fair.

The parishe is celebrated on the last Monday of the Hindu month of Karthika. The parishe kicked off with the usual prayers at the Doddaganapati temple on Bull Temple Road and the kadalekayi abhisheka to Basavanna.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, the historical groundnut fair, like many other festivals, is being celebrated in a low-key fashion.

In a letter to the Muzrai Department, the executive officer of the Doddaganapati temple, Basavanagudi, proposed low-key celebrations, which includes the customary puja at the temple. The official has also suggested that permission should not be granted for setting up of stalls for sale of groundnuts outside the temple, as is the custom.

Former Basavanagudi councillor B.S. Sathyanarayana said that the Muzrai Department, which usually auctions space outside the temple to vendors, did not do so this time around. With several devotees insisting on buying groundnuts after offering prayers at the temple, permission had been granted to less than 30 groundnut sellers, who were vending from pushcarts outside the temple, he claimed.

Each year, thousands of people from across the city visit the temple during the fair. The fair attracts groundnut farmers from across the State and neighbouring States as well.

“With COVID-19 and restrictions in place, we did not want to take a chance, lest it becomes a super spreader event,” he said.