Mahisha Dasara celebrated amidst row

Mysuru: Mahisha Dasara was celebrated in Mysuru on Sunday. As the police didn’t give permission for the celebrations to be held at Chamundi Hills, the procession planned by the organisers was cancelled and they shifted it to Ashokapuram park.
Historian PV Nanjaraj Urs questioned the rationale behind banning the Mahisha Dasara. "Don’t call Mahisha as Asura (demon). He is Asu+ra means one who protects society," he said.
Mysuru was spelled as Mahisuru till recently by the Wadiyar rulers. Without understanding and reading the history of Mysuru, Mahisha is portrayed as a demon, he said. Urs also urged the people to raise their voices for Mahisha. There is no truth behind the story around Chamundi killing Mahisha, he stated.
Former mayor K Purushottam warned the police for not allowing them to celebrate the Mahisha Dasara. He alleged that values of the constitution were murdered.
According to Nanjaraj Urs, today's celebration was the 9th year of Mahisha Dasara. "This celebration is part of Dalit conscience which is against the imposition of upper caste beliefs and culture on others," he said.
"There is a strong feeling among the Shudras that the history of their cultural leaders is tweaked, and hidden. The Vedic concepts are glorified. To counter this narrative, this celebration started 9 years ago," he said.
"The Congress and JD(S) governments were permitting this celebration while the BJP is banning it," he explained.