Muzrai Minister K. Srinivas Poojary on Friday assured the Legislative Council that he would seek a report from an agama scholar on a controversy over the status of Agastyeshwara linga at Talacauvery in Kodagu district.
His statement came in response to the issue raised by Congress member S. Veena Achaiah, who said that Agastyeshwara linga, believed to have been consecrated by sage Agastya, had become the centre of a controversy in Talacauvery after it was removed and replaced by another linga. According to her, the linga was removed when the Agastyeshwara temple was being renovated between 2002 and 2005, and was not consecrated again because is was believed to have been damaged.
“A section of people believes that it has to be immersed in the sea while another section has gone to court and obtained stay against immersion. Currently, it is just lying there without any rituals being offered,” she said.
Ms. Achaiah said the Muzrai Department had to intervene and find a solution based on traditional and ritual guidelines. She also urged the government to deploy geological experts and engineers to assess the area, which witnessed landslip during heavy rains this monsoon, and provide solution to prevent landslips. In response, Mr. Poojary said he would take up the issue seriously.
