Hassan Deputy Commissioner M.S. Archana has said the practice of Koran recitation during the Channakeshava car festival – Rathotsava – cannot be changed all of a sudden. “The recitation of the Koran has been part of the festival for decades”, she told presspersons in Hassan on Wednesday.
Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists staged a protest in Belur on Tuesday, urging the State government to stop the practice.
Ms. Archana said that the recitation of excerpts from the Koran had been included in the temple manual. “It has been in practice since the 1920s. There was a similar demand last year, too. However, the Muzrai Department took the decision to continue with the tradition. It cannot be stopped all of a sudden”, she said.
Further, she said, a team of Agama experts would visit Belur on Thursday. They would look into the issue.