Or so thinks CM Yeddyurappa, who has convinced an atheist Karunanidhi to allow pujas at the unveiling of the saint's statue in Chennai
Or so thinks CM Yeddyurappa, who has convinced an atheist Karunanidhi to allow pujas at the unveiling of the saint's statue in Chennai
Kannadigas in Chennai have prevailed upon the rationalist Tamil Nadu chief minister to perform religious rituals when unveiling the Sarvajna statue tomorrow, in the city.
A team of priests, headed by Bhanuprakash Sharma, a family priest of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, has already landed at Ayanavaram, where the statue is being unveiled.
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The saint-poet: The inauguration of the Sarvagna statue in Chennai is expected to be peaceful and controversy-free pic/ kpn photo |
Sharma is from Srirangapattana, and had performed rituals for Yeddyurappa before the assembly polls to ensure his victory.
"Yeddyuarappa is religious and he trusts me. I suggested to him that we perform a homa before unveiling the statue so that we could ward off evil, and he obliged," said Sharma.
"We will perform gana homa and rudra homa at the venue early in the morning."
'An insult'
The Tamil Nadu chief minister is understood to have opposed the idea initially, saying it was an insult to the saint-poet to perform rituals as he and Thiruvalluvar had preached principles condemning superstitions.
He had not allowed doing any such things when Thiruvalluvar statue was unveiled, last week in Bangalore, Karunanidhi said.
The hosts of the event, The Ayanavaram Kannada Sangha, therefore had to toil a bit to convince the atheist chief minister.
"It was tough to convince him," said Attavar Ramadas, president of the Kannada Sangha.
"But it is necessary to perform pooja because it creates positive vibrations and gives peace of mind to both Kannadigas and Tamilians."
Reportedly, Karunanidhi obliged only after Yeddyurappa intervened and requested him to allow the rituals.
Yeddyurappa will unveil the statue at 4 pm, although the TN chief minister would not be present at the venue when the rituals are performed in the morning.
" It is an historic event and the Kannadigas living here are thrilled," said Ramadas. He said nobody was opposing the unveiling of the statue and the event would be peaceful.
Interestingly, the unveling of the Thiruvalluvar statue in Bangalore was hosted by the Bangalore Tamil Sangha, the local counterpart of Ramadas's organisation.
