Millennium's second anointing of Venur Bahubali concludes

[email protected] (CD Network, Photos by Savitha B R )

February 6, 2012

Venur, February 6: The curtain descended on the second Mahamastakabhisheka celebrations of the new millennium officially here on Sunday with a colourful anointing ceremony for the statue of Bahubali situated on the northern side of River Phalguni.

The visual splendour of grand anointment unfolded as many pilgrims sang and danced in front of the 35-foot-tall monolithic statue.

The highlight of the final day was 1008 kalasha abhishekha which started with the prathama kalasha at 6.45 pm.

As many as 4,000 devotees sitting in the main venue and in excess of 40,000 outside witnessed the head anointing ceremony of the monolith, erected in 1604 AD to commemorate Lord Bahubali's supreme sacrifice of renouncing the throne in pursuit of eternal bliss and liberation.

Ashok Jain, secretary of the Mahamasthakabhisheka Committee, said the total attendance to witness the event for the nine day event crossed 1.5 lakh, with a maximum of 40,000 on Sunday and 35,000 each on Friday and Saturday. ``As the event was also telecast live on Sunday, on a local channel, the numbers did not swell as expected,'' he added.

Earlier the 1008 kalasha's filled with 'agrodaka' from the well at Rama Mandir at Kelaginapete, about a kilometer from the main venue was brought in a procession. The nine day event remained incident-free without any accidents or case of missing persons, barring a two hour traffic gridlock on Saturday.

What followed after the two hour 1008 kalasha Jalabhisheka was indeed breath-taking. From white to yellow to red, the colour of the monolith statue changed every half an hour, to the awe of devotees chanting steady stream of devotional songs and chant of `Bolo Bahubali Bhagwan ki Jai' renting the air. As many as 800 litres of milk, 300 litres of tender coconout water, 300 litres of cane sugar juice, five `butti's' of rice flour powder and 80 kgs of turmeric, srigandha, chandana, astagandha paste slid down the monolith on the final day. The final offering, after maha arathi, was a huge garland of over 20,000 flowers to Bahubali which ended the nine day spectacle and filled devotees with visual as well as spiritual bliss.

The next Mahamasthakabhisheka will be held in this region itself at Karkala (Udupi District) in 2014.

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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